Fate of the Future
by Polar Emperor Odin
Summary: A stranger appears out of nowhere, and with his help the D-Team reunite. They soon realize, however, that the future is in danger, and it's up to them and their dinosaur friends to protect it!  Rated T for tragedy and possible violence in later chapters.
1. Looking back

Prologue:

The young man couldn't believe his eyes. The city around him, the city that he had grown up in, the city that had once been so full of life, was now in ruins. This once so warm and lively place had been reduced to nothing more than a ghost town. As he walked aimlessly through the rubble, he couldn't help but looking around for others that might have survived the catastrophe. But as much as he hoped, deep down he knew it was pointless: He knew he was the only one left alive.

Suddenly something caught his attention: He saw something sparkling under the remains of a destroyed building. He headed over to it and reached into the gap. As he searched for whatever it could have been, his hand suddenly touched something smooth and square, and he grabbed a hold of it.

"What's this?" He said as he pulled it out "A… card?"

In his hand he now held an odd-looking card with a picture of a dinosaur on it. The dinosaur itself was relatively small, and the man had a strong feeling that he had seen it somewhere before... He turned the card in his hand as he tried to remember, and as he did the card sparkled in a way that kind of reminded him of a rainbow. Soon, however, the man gave up: He just couldn't seem to remember anything, save for the shock of what had happened to the city, and the creeping feeling of being the only living human left in it.

He turned the card back around and looked at the dinosaur depicted on the front, and actually managed a faint smile as he gazed upon it.

"I guess the two of us are a lot alike…" He murmured "We're both the last ones of our kind left here…"

He placed the card in his pocket, and kept on walking through the ruins.

After a while he reached what used to be the main centre of the city, but now it was in ruins as well. In the middle of it all was the remains of a statue, and the young man walked up to it.

Oddly, the statue was almost completely intact, except for the right arm that had been broken off. The man seemed to recall that the broken statue had once held something up towards the sky in its now broken hand, but he couldn't seem to remember what it had been.

Without really knowing why, he put his hand into his pocket and pulled out the card he had found earlier and looked at it once more. Suddenly a wave of despair welled up inside him. He dropped the card on the ground as he fell down on his knees, and the tears rushing down his face fell silently onto the card on the ground in front of him.

"Why did it have to come to this?" He said as more tears welled up in his eyes.

"How could they do this?" He cried in desperation.

But his voice just echoed distantly through the ruins...

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 1:<span>

Max sighed. He had just been about to change into his pyjamas, when his eyes had fallen onto the calendar on his desk. It told him that tomorrow was a very special day:

Tomorrow it would be exactly one year since his best friend Rex had left Max's family to live with his real parents. Max headed over to the window and opened it, letting the cool night air flow through his brown hair.

He sighed again. It all felt so unreal. This all probably sounded pretty silly: Having a friend living in another place, even in another country wasn't so unusual, was it? Especially not in these days. But in Rex's case it was. Because Rex didn't live in another place or another city, not even in another country. Rex actually lived very close to them, yet still he lived as far away as anyone possibly could: Rex lived _in the future_. Anyone hearing this would probably just laugh and say that it would be impossible to know someone living in a different time. But that still wasn't the most unreal thing about Rex. Rex didn't only live in the future; he and his parents actually lived in the future _along with dinosaurs_. It was actually Rex's parents who had "created" the dinosaurs they lived with. As a matter of fact, one of the dinosaurs that lived with Rex in the future was actually one of Max's best friends, and he had experienced an amazing adventure alongside that dinosaur (and many other ones) while Rex still lived with them.

Max remembered it as if it had all happened yesterday: He had seen a meteor fall from the sky and crash into a nearby forest. He had hurried to alert Rex and his other friend Zoe, and the next morning they had headed over to the crash site to investigate. There they had found three odd-looking stones, each with a different symbol on it: Lightning for Max, Wind for Rex and Grass for Zoe. Max had also found a card with a Triceratops on it lying nearby, and when he accidently rubbed the card and stone together, the dinosaur had come alive! Although he was frightened at first, Max quickly realized that the dinosaur was actually very friendly and it ended up living with him and Rex at their house (luckily they soon discovered there was a way to change the dinosaur into a much smaller baby dinosaur, thus making it possible to pretend that it was just an ordinary dog.), and due to it's habit of biting everything within reach (which all too often ended up being Max's nose…), he decided to name it "Chomp".

No sooner, however, had he befriended Chomp than trouble appeared: A mysterious group calling themselves "The Alpha Gang" and their Tyrannosaurus, Terry, showed up and tried to take Chomp away from Max, but luckily they were able to defeat Terry and force the Alpha Gang to retreat for the moment. Soon after, Rex and Zoe discovered their dinosaur partners: Ace the Carnotaurus and Paris the Parasaurolophus. With that the D-Team was officially formed, and a wild chase around the World, trying to beat the Alpha Gang to all sorts of different dinosaurs and cards, followed. Although they were able to secure most of the cards, some of them ended up in the Alpha Gangs hands, amongst them Spiny the Spinosaurus and Tank the Saichania, which they ended up battling against on several occasions. One time they even ended up in the Alpha Gangs headquarters and almost got themselves captured! But with a little help from Max's dad Dr. Taylor and Zoe's sister Reese, and of course their dinosaur friends, they where able to get away just in the nick of time.

After what seemed like an endless hunt for dinosaurs, something happened that would blow their minds: An android named Jonathan, claiming to have worked for Rex's true parents, showed up and told them an amazing story: How Rex's parents Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia had found an ancient Stone Tablet, and from it received a distress call from the dinosaurs. They decided to do something about it, and built a time machine in order to travel from their home in the future along with the Alpha Gang, to the prehistory to save them. During their recue operation they discovered a way to secure the dinosaurs by turning them into cards, which could be turned back to normal using the Stones from the tablet they found. It was also during this journey that Rex had been born. Soon, however, something terrible happened: The leader of the Alpha Gang, Dr. Z, decided to betray the Ancients in order to claim the cards for himself, so that he could become the Dinosaur King. With the help of the Ancient's assistant, Seth, Dr. Z managed to take control of the time machine, known as The Backland, and trap them in time capsules, sending them flying through time. Jonathan had been able to protect Rex just in the nick of time, but the two of them then got sent flying through time as well, ending up in present day, where Rex got adopted by his step father Dr. Owen, and was sent to live with Max and his family.

Shocked from this the D-Team hardly had any time to take it in, because at the Alpha Gangs headquarters Seth had finally decided to show his true colours as a traitor: He sent the rest of the Alpha Gang away so that he could take over the headquarters, which was actually the same time machine they had stolen from the Ancients, and then moved on to fulfil his plan of filling the world with his genetically empowered dinosaurs. Now facing a common foe, the D-Team and the Alpha Gang decided to settle their differences and unite their forces in order to stop Seth. Despite that they had an entire army of dinosaurs Seth proved to be more than a match for them with his super-powered Black Tyrannosaurus. But after a long and fierce battle, they where able to defeat it and Seth ended up being sucked into a time portal and disappeared.

Shortly after the battle Rex's parents turned up again, and he was finally able to reunite with his true family. Soon, however, he and his parents had to return to their home in the future, taking all the dinosaurs with them. Although it felt hard to say goodbye, Max and Zoe knew it wasn't going to be forever since Rex could easily use the time machine to see them whenever he wanted to.

* * *

><p>The farewell didn't last very long, however: Shortly after leaving, Rex and his parents turned up again as it turned out they had been attacked by a group of aliens calling themselves The Spectral Space Pirates during their journey home. The pirates soon caught up to them and kidnapped not only Rex's parents, but Max's and Zoe's parents as well.<p>

With a little help from the Alpha Gang they were able to use the time machine to give chase for the pirates, and ended up in the Cretaceous period due to the time machine malfunctioning, but had to strike a quick retreat as a meteor shower struck Earth. Once they had managed to escape, they encountered a mysterious glowing Pterosaur telling them to follow her, saying that she would guide them to their destiny...

Doing so they ended up in ancient Rome, where they were forced to do battle with the Space Pirates and their Spectral Armor-empowerd dinosaurs, in order to defend a young girl named Sophia on her quest to give her brother a mysterious jewel called the Cosmos Stone, in order to save him from the roman emperor. The battles that followed were really fierce, and they almost ended up defeated by the pirate's dinosaurs at the very Coliseum of Rome, but were saved in the nick of time when Dr. Z arrived with their new weapon: The DinoTectors. Despite that they managed to win and save Sophia and her brother, Spartacus, the Space Pirates stole the Cosmos Stone and escaped in their time machine.

Not giving up they followed the pirates and ended up in the Caribbean Sea, where they had to fight not only the Space Pirates but the real-life pirate Blackbeard and his crew, who had teamed up with the Space Pirates, and as they did they ended up having to help a young boy called Jim, who had been separated from his father while searching for a healing gem that would help save his village. A wild treasure hunt now ensued as the D-Team and the pirates fought for the map showing the location of the treasure. But in the heat of battle, the Space Pirates managed to get away with the treasure, which turned out to be yet another Cosmos Stone. Despite this loss they at least managed to have Blackbeard sent to prison, and reunite Jim with his father as well.

Chasing after the pirates yet again they arrived in ancient China, where they ended up having to protect the pacifistic monk Genzo Sansho Hoshi from the Space Pirates, who wanted to use his "powers" to get to yet another Cosmos Stone. Despite their best effort the Space Pirates managed to get their hands on the third Cosmos Stone as well, but they were at least able to have Sansho return safely to his village.

While following the pirates, they encountered The Pterosaur again, who warned them not to let the Seven Cosmos Stones be brought together, and soon after they arrived at their next destination. This time they ended up in ancient Japan, where they encountered the legendary shogun Tokugawa (who bore a striking resemblance to Zoe's father, Dr. Drake…), who had been separated from his men while searching for a magical gemstone, which they quickly realized had to be another Cosmos Stone, so they decided to team up with him. They eventually ended up in an underwater cave, where they found the gem, which turned out to really be the fourth Cosmos Stone. The Space Pirates soon found them though, and tried to take the Stone. Luckily, the shogun's right-hand man, Hanzou, showed up just in time to stop them, but then he and the shogun took off with the Cosmos Stone. They caught up with them pretty soon, and learned from Hanzou that Zoe's father, who apparently had escaped from the pirates, had been mistaken for the shogun due to their identical appearance, and was about to lead the shogun's army into a great battle! Rushing to the battlefield to save him they soon ran into not only the ninjas of the enemy, but the Space Pirates as well, and during the heat of battle the pirates were able to snatch the Cosmos Stone. After escaping the battlefield they quickly chased after Zoe's father, but the pirates found Dr. Drake just seconds before them, and got away right before their eyes.

As they chased after the pirates again, The Pterosaur appeared once more, telling them that if the Cosmos Stones were ever brought together, it would be the end of all of time and space. Now even more determined not to fail again they ended up in ancient Persia. While there they befriended the young princess Zarah and her Isisaurus (which she had mistaken for a genie), who had been kidnapped by the 39 thieves as part of her fathers (who was the sultan) prime minister's plan to take over the kingdom. The mission to save the princess's kingdom turned out to be harder than they first expected, though: Not only did they have to fight the Space Pirates once again, but the Alpha Gang as well, as Dr. Z had been taken captive by the thieves, forcing the rest of the Alpha Gang to use their dinosaurs to help the bandits with their dirty deeds. During their journey they also encountered the street boy Aladdin. Although he seemed pretty unreliable at first, he proved to be a great help when he helped them free Zarah's father and protected Zarah herself from the Space Pirates. And he also managed stop the Space Pirates from getting the fifth Cosmos Stone (which turned out to have been inside Zarah's Isisaurus all the time), causing Zarah to fall in love with him (much to the dismay of both Max and Rex…), and letting the D-Team get a hold of the Stone and save the kingdom (and Dr. Z) as well.

Strengthened by their success they followed the pirates yet again, and this time they arrived in 17th century France, where Max almost immediately ended up in a fight with a young boy named D'Artagnan, who blamed Max and Chomp for destroying the orphanage he and his friends had lived in, which had happened by accident when Max had tried to fend off an attack from the Space Pirates. Soon, however, they learned from the king's servant, Lady Constance, that the royal mother and her sinister chancellor had gone behind the young king Louis's back, and made a deal with the Space Pirates to help them find a mysterious gemstone, which they figured had to be another Cosmos Stone. They set out to stop them, and soon it turned out that D'Artagnan and his friends had followed them under the name "The Teen Musketeers". Although Max and D'Artagnan didn't get along very well at first, due to D'Artagnan's refusal to cooperate, they eventually called it a truce, and decided to work together to stop the pirates. They met Princess Anne, who managed to sway the King to order his mother to break the deal with the pirates, and then she joined up with them to help them search for the stone. The chase for the Stone, however, lead into several dead ends, and they faced a true challenge when they encountered Gigas, Armatus and Maximus, the Space Pirates new, super-powered dinosaurs. During the battle D'Artagnan and his friends almost got captured by the chancellor's men, but where rescued by the Alpha Gang (who had developed a soft spot for them, since it turned out they had been orphans as well until Dr. Z had adopted them). In the end, however, they managed to defeat the pirates and claim the sixth Cosmos Stone, much thanks to the help from The Musketeers, Lady Constance, the Princess and the King, and – of course – a great deal of teamwork.

With two Cosmos Stones now in their possession, they attempted to sway the pirates to release their captive parents in exchange for them, but the pirates tricked them and attacked in order to steal the Stones. In an attempt to escape, they crash landed the time machine in the Jurassic period, where, to their great surprise, they encountered Seth, who explained that he had been found and rescued by the pirates. Because of that he had helped them with his knowledge of dinosaurs, but decided to flee when he realised the pirate's true intentions. Believing in his story, they had let him onto The Backland, but it turned out it had all been a lie when Seth stole the Cosmos Stones they had found and attempted to return to the Space Pirates with them. They rushed to stop him, but the pirates stepped in between, giving Seth the time he needed to get away, and during their battle a gigantic forest fire broke out, causing the present to get altered, forcing them to go back there in order to save their friends, and then they quickly returned to the Jurassic period to restore the damage.

With the past, present and their friends now safe, they once again chased after the Space Pirates in order to prevent them from getting the final Cosmos Stone, and ended up in the Stone Age. The battle that followed turned out to be their most challenging yet, when the captain of the Space Pirates, Spectre, joined the fight with his super-powered Apatosaurus, Bronto. But the intense battle ended up causing a tremendous volcanic eruption, forcing both sides to retreat, but not before Dr. Z was able to see a mammoth swallow the final Cosmos Stone. Thanks to a memory from Max's past they were able to trace the location of the fossilized mammoth, and were able to find both it and the Cosmos Stone just before the Space Pirates.

Almost immediately afterwards the Space Pirates made contact with them, offering to trade the Stone for their parents. They decided to accept, but it quickly turned out that the pirates had tricked them: What appeared to be their parents was actually a group of slug-like creatures who had simply taken on their form. To make things worse, Seth showed up and revealed that the Stone they had traded the pirates was actually a fake. But when Spectre ordered Seth to bring Max, Rex and Zoe to him, he had had the creatures return them back to their ship instead, and the pirates soon discovered that Seth had also stolen the six Cosmos Stones that hey had previously stolen, and sent Gigas, Armatus and Maximus to get them back. Seth, however, unleashed his secret weapon, Cryolophosaurus, which easily defeated the three Spectral dinosaurs, and then made a quick escape with The Backland.

Seth used the strange creatures to keep the rest of them busy, while he stole the last Cosmos Stone, but they soon figured out how to stop the creatures and Max chased after Seth. While Chomp didn't seem to stand a chance against the Cryolophosaurus at first, Dr. Z arrived with a new move that gave him the edge he needed. Despite being defeated, Seth still managed to escape with one of the Cosmos Stones and his Cryolophosaurus. Soon after, the Space Pirates contacted them again, and made another offer to trade them their parents for the Cosmos Stones, and this time it turned out they weren't lying. But as they were about to make the trade, their parents stopped them, since if the pirates got all seven Cosmos Stones it could be the end of everything. Even knowing that they didn't really have all the Stones to trade to the pirates, their parents refused to allow the deal, and begged for them to strike a quick retreat, which they did, now feeling even more heartbroken than before…

Soon, however, they where contacted again, but this time by Seth. It turned out that he had escaped to the present, where he had taken Reese, Dr. Owen and Dr. Owens's friend Patrick hostage, demanding all the remaining Cosmos Stones in exchange for their freedom. Despite The Pterosaur appearing to warn them from bringing all the Cosmos Stone to the very same time, they had to go back to help their friends. As soon as they arrived they went to face Seth, who revealed that the reason he wanted the Stones was so that he could destroy the whole universe and then create a new one, and thereby become the ruler of all of space and time. Determined to not let him have his ways they decided to attack him full force, but it turned out Seth had had a backup-plan that enabled him to steal all the other Cosmos Stones, and his Cryolophosaurus also managed to stop their dinosaurs from getting to Seth.

As Seth tried to escape, however, the Space Pirates showed up again and stole all the Stones and merged them together, not only strengthening their own dinosaurs, but creating a Dark Pterosaur as well, which according to what they had come to know, would mean the end of all of time and space.

Despite facing a seemingly hopeless fight, they refused to give up, and with some help from Seth, who finally had realized the error of his ways, they prepared for the final battle. Using the power of the Stone Plates, and with some help from the good Pterosaur they where able to defeat Gigas, Armatus, Maximus and Bronto, allowing them to finally reunite with their parents. Meanwhile Seth, with the help of the good Pterosaur, was able to defeat the Dark Pterosaur by ramming into it with The Backland, also sending the Space Pirates flying aimlessly through space, but ended up falling into a deep coma in the process.

With the world finally safe, Rex and his parents decided to return to their home in the future along with the Alpha Gang, Seth and the dinosaurs. This time, however, it was much harder to say goodbye: Since The Backland had been destroyed in the battle, they had no choice but to use the pirate's time ship for their journey, and since it had been damaged as well it would only manage the journey home to the future, meaning this time farewell would be forever. Even though they knew it was for the best, it was really sad to say goodbye to Rex, Ace, Chomp, Paris and all the others. And as the ship left, Max and Zoe had waved goodbye with lots of tears…

Max's eyes suddenly fell on the alarm clock beside his bed, and he was shocked to see it was already past eleven, meaning he had been standing there remembering for more than an hour! He shut the window and closed the curtains, and then he quickly changed into his pyjamas. He really didn't want to be all tired out tomorrow: He and Zoe had agreed to meet and spend the whole day together in memory of Rex and all their dinosaur friends. Max quickly got into his bed, and just a few minutes later he had fallen asleep.


	2. A mysterious encounter

Chapter 2: 

Max had no idea how long he had been sleeping when, suddenly, he sprang right awake:

He could hear something going on outside. It sounded like…An explosion? Or an earthquake?

He quickly got out of bed and headed over to the window and pulled back the curtains, but he instantly had to close his eyes, as an intense light poured into the room. He could still hear the sound, but the sharp light forced him to keep his eyes shut. Suddenly the sound and light died down, and Max opened his eyes again. He discovered that he was now standing in complete darkness. Even the street lights outside had gone dark. He assumed that whatever just happened had caused a total black-out in the nearby area...

"What on earth was that?" He muttered to himself when, suddenly, there was a knocking on the door to his bedroom.

"Max! Max! Are you in there?" A voice called.

"Dad?" Max said, as he headed over to the door and opened it, finding that his mum and dad, Aki- and Spike Taylor, were standing there in the darkness.

"What in the name of prehistory just happened?" Dr. Taylor said as Max walked out of the room to join them.

"You mean that strange sound and the light?" Max asked.

"Exactly! Me and your mother just saw and heard it to, but first we thought it was just a dream!"

"No, it can't have been!" Max replied "It happened right outside our house!"

Even though it was almost completely dark, Max could clearly see that his dad suddenly got a weird look in his eyes…

"Well, in that case…" He said slowly "I say we go out there to investigate!" And he ran of.

"Wait, dad, I'm coming with you!" Max called, and ran after him.

"Be careful, boys!" Aki said as the two of them went down the stairs.

* * *

><p>Max quickly stuck his feet into his trainers, and followed his dad outside.<p>

"I wonder if it could be another meteor, like last time…" Max said to his dad as they walked down the path between the house and the street.

"Well, I sure hope so" Dr. Taylor replied "I sure wouldn't mind being dragged into an adventure just like you, Rex and Zoe…Whoa!"

In the next second Max heard a scream, then a thud, as his dad suddenly fell to the ground.

"Hey, dad! What happened?" Max cried.

"I don't know…" Dr. Taylor groaned as he stood back up "I think I just tripped on something..."

Right then Aki appeared on the stairs, holding a lit flashlight and lighting up the previously dark garden a bit; allowing Max to see just what was in front of him.

"Not _something_, dad!" He cried "More like _someone_!"

And, indeed, just where Dr. Taylor had tripped they could clearly see there was a human, lying on the ground in front of them.

Aki came running towards them with the flashlight, shining it straight at the unmoving person, allowing them to see better: From the looks of things, it was a young man, perhaps at the end of his teens, with black hair reaching down to his shoulders. He wore a dark blue jacket and a yellow shirt, blue jeans as well as a pair of white trainers.

"Oh, dear!" Aki cried and dropped the flashlight "You don't think he is…?"

Dr. Taylor quickly bent down and grabbed a hold of the man's wrist.

"Hmmm… I can feel his pulse. He's probably just unconscious." He said after a short while.

"Oh, thank goodness." Aki said with a sigh of relief.

"Hey, Max, help me out here!" He said as he turned to Max "Let's get him inside."

Max nodded and helped his dad lift the man, and then they started to carry him back towards the house, with Aki walking behind them and lighting up their path with her flashlight.

* * *

><p>As the two of them put the man down on the living room couch, Aki lit a couple of candles to light up the room a little bit. Then they all gathered around the man now lying on the couch.<p>

"Who do you think he might be, dad?" Max asked curiously.

"I don't know, Max" He replied "Maybe we'll find out when he wakes up."

"Do you think he might have been injured by whatever happened recently?" Aki said.

"That's quiet possible, but we can't know for sure…" Dr. Taylor started, when the man suddenly began to move slightly.

"I think he's waking up!" Max said.

The man suddenly opened up his eyes, and with a little moan he sat up in the couch, looking around the room.

"Mmmm…Where am I?" He murmured, and then his eyes fell on Max, Aki and Dr. Taylor, and they could clearly see that he had bright blue eyes, almost the same colour as water.

"…And who are you?" He asked with a confused look on his face.

"My name's Spike Taylor." Dr. Taylor introduced himself.

"You can call me Aki." Aki said with a little smile.

"And I'm Max" Max said "We just found you knocked out in the yard, so what's your name?"

The man was silent for a while.

"I'm sorry… I have no idea…" He said at last.

"What do you mean, you have no idea?" Max asked in amazement "Come on, it's your own name!"

The man didn't say anything, and suddenly Dr. Taylor stepped up in front of him with a stern look on his face.

"Are you trying to pull our legs here, young man?" He asked sharply at the man, who suddenly seemed quiet frightened by his sudden change in mood.

"Take it easy, dear!" Aki said as she stepped between the man and her husband.

"I-I'm really sorry" The man said "B-but for some reason I just can't seem to remember..."

"Hold on, so what you're saying is that you've got an amnesia?" Max asked him.

"Oh!" Dr. Taylor said understandingly "Now, that's a tricky one…"

"So what should we do about it, dad?" Max asked.

"Well, from what I've heard, the only thing you can do is waiting for it to wear of…" He said.

"I don't think there's anything we can do about it right now" Aki suddenly said "It's almost midnight, so maybe we should just wait till tomorrow."

"Good idea" Dr. Taylor said and yawned "I'm too tired to think about anything right now, anyway."

"Well, we really didn't expect a guest in the middle of the night, so would it be okay for you to sleep here on the couch?" Aki smiled as she turned to the man.

He didn't answer, but nodded slightly.

"Good, do you want me to get you a blanket?"

The man just shook his head.

"Very well, then have a good night." She said as she turned to put out the candles, and then she and Dr. Taylor headed up the stairs to their bedroom.

Max just stood there and watched the man sitting on the couch for a short while, but then he headed back to his room as well.

As Max crawled into bed, he couldn't help but wondering: Could the man somehow be involved in the accident from before? And would they ever get to know his name? But soon he decided to let it all wait till the morning, and just a few minutes later he had fallen asleep once again.


	3. Forget and remember

Chapter 3:

When Max woke up next morning, he almost immediately recalled the night's events: The earthquake, the light and then the mysterious man they had found unconscious in their yard.

He changed into his usual red shirt with a yellow hood and orange pants, put on a pair of socks and grabbed his usual gloves and Triceratops headgear before heading downstairs. As he entered the living room, he saw the mysterious man sitting there on the couch, staring blankly in front of him. He was sitting in the exact same place and position as when they had headed back to bed yesterday, so there was no way to tell if he had slept, or just spent the whole night sitting there. Max carefully walked up to the man, as he didn't want to seem like he was trying to scare him or something.

"Um…Good morning…" Max said, attempting a smile.

The man didn't react, but kept staring blankly in front of him.

"Did you sleep well?" Max asked, in another attempt to start a conversation.

Still nothing.

Max began to wonder if the man even wanted to speak to anyone at all, but he still decided to give it one last attempt.

"Um…Have you remembered your name yet?"

This time the man looked up, looking straight at Max with those amazingly blue eyes.

"Afraid not…" He said as he gazed upon Max.

"Err…its okay; I'm sure you will eventually…" Max replied, slightly taken aback by the fact that the man actually said something at last. But, suddenly, he took his eyes off of Max and returned to staring blankly in front of him. Max decided to get some breakfast, but as he entered the kitchen he immediately noticed a note on the table. He picked it up and read it:

"_Dear Max, your father and I had to go out on a quick errand, but we'll be back soon. / Love mum."_

Just as Max had finished his breakfast he heard someone open the door, and within a minute Aki and Dr. Taylor entered the kitchen.

"Where have you been?" He asked.

"Well, you see, Max" Dr. Taylor said "After everything that happened tonight me and your mother decided to head over to the police as soon as we woke up, and they asked us to bring that young man to the station."

"What? But he didn't do anything wrong, did he?" Max said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry, dear" Aki said as she walked up to him "They just want to ask him a couple of questions, that's all."

"What kind of questions?" Max asked.

"Well, you see" Dr. Taylor said to his son "When we told them we had found him unconscious in our yard, they were worried he might be a missing person, or something like that, so there is a strong chance his family might be looking for him."

"Oh, I see." Max said with a sigh of relief.

Max walked out to the living room, but when he entered he realized the man was no longer sitting on the couch, and he couldn't see him anywhere else in the room.

_Where could he have gone?_ Max thought to himself.

"So where is that young amnesiac?" Dr. Taylor asked Max as he too entered the living room.

"I don't know, he was here just a moment ago." Max replied.

"What? Now that's bad timing! We were supposed to bring him to the police station within an hour!" Dr. Taylor said with a troubled look on his face.

"I guess we just have to look for him." Max said.

* * *

><p>While Aki and Dr. Taylor searched the bottom floor of the house, Max went up to look at the second floor. He peeked into his parent's room, but couldn't see any trace of the man. As he entered his own room, however, he immediately saw the man standing in front of his desk.<p>

"There you are" Max said as he walked up behind the man "Mum and Dad said you'll have to…"

He stopped when he realized the man was holding something in his hand: It was a photograph that always stood on the centre of the desk. It showed him, Rex and Zoe standing together with smiles on their faces. Max remembered that the picture had been taken just one week before the meteor had crashed into the forest, and their adventure with dinosaurs had started.

"Friends of yours?" The man suddenly asked Max, as he gazed upon the picture.

"Yeah" Max said, once again surprised that the man actually spoke to him "That guy beside me is Rex" Max explained as he walked up right next to the man, pointing at the picture "But he doesn't live with us anymore… The girl's name is Zoe, and I plan to see her later today, so…"

"Marco" The man suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"Marco. I just remembered. My name is Marco." The man said as he placed the photo back on the desk, and turned to face Max. Max couldn't help but staring.

"And you said you're Max, right?" The man said.

"Well, yeah..." Max replied, not really sure what else to say.

"It's nice to meet you, Max." And to Max's surprise, the man actually smiled at him.

"Well, it's nice to meet you to, Marco." Max said, feeling slightly taken aback.

"Max!" Dr. Taylor suddenly called from the bottom floor "Did you find him yet?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Max said as he hurried to the door of his room. When he reached it he turned to face Marco, who still stood unmoving by the desk.

"You better come too." He said.

* * *

><p>Max decided to follow his dad and Marco to the police station. Once there, they followed a male police officer into the interrogation room, where he started to ask Marco all sorts of questions. Marco didn't say a word, but shook his head or nodded to answer the questions.<p>

Max couldn't help but smiling to himself: Marco was so obviously older than him, yet he acted like he was no older than him, maybe even younger. But then again, maybe that was natural for someone who had lost most of his memories…

Soon after, Max and Marco were let out to the waiting room while the police man talked to Dr. Taylor about Marco. While Max sat on one of the sofas reading a magazine, Marco walked up to one of the big windows of the room. The Police station was located outside of town, close to the harbour, and you could see the boats passing by on the ocean outside. Marco sighed.

"What's wrong?" Max asked as he put away the magazine he had been reading.

"When you think about it, the World is actually pretty big…" Marco said quietly.

"Well, I guess…" Max said, confused by this rather odd statement. Suddenly Marco turned away from the window, looking right into Max's eyes. There was a sad and worried look in his eyes, and Max couldn't help but feeling taken aback again.

"Do you think..." Marco said "Do you think that, somewhere out there, someone's looking for me? Like a friend? Or maybe my parents?" Max didn't know what to say. He really hadn't expected Marco to ask him something like that, but hearing it he felt like he just had to say something.

"Sure!" He said, trying to smile "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find them again."

"I hope so…" Marco said quietly "Cause I still can't seem to remember how I ended up here in the first place…"

"Maybe you could stay with us until you find them?" Max said, trying to sound comforting.

"You…You wouldn't mind?" Marco said, suddenly sounding surprised.

In that very moment the door to the interrogation room opened, and Dr, Taylor stepped out into the waiting room with a concerned look on his face.

"What did they say, Dad?" Max asked quickly.

"Well, it's all very strange…" Dr. Taylor said, as he turned to face Max "Not only did they have no clues about where his family could be, but they also had absolutely no information in their database about him: They just said that he is what you could call a real mystery man..."

"So...What's going to happen to him now?" Max asked worriedly.

"From the looks of things, the only thing they could think of was to let him live with us until they find out more about this whole thing." Dr. Taylor sighed.

"So what did you say, Dad?" Max asked.

"Well, I said it would be all right, at least for a while." Dr. Taylor said, as he looked at Marco, who had returned to staring out through the window.

* * *

><p>As they walked back home Max walked up beside Marco.<p>

"I guess this means you're going to live with us for a while now…" Max said. He wasn't sure if he was happy about it or not, but he felt that he just had to put up with it: After all, he still hadn't forgotten how _he _had felt it when his parents had been kidnapped by the Space Pirates…

"Yes, that's really very kind of you…" Marco murmured as he turned to face Max "I just hope I won't be too much of a burden…"

"Don't worry" Max said, attempting to smile "I'm sure it'll…"

"Max! Max! Where on earth have you been?" Someone suddenly called.

Max looked up and saw a girl with pink hair come running towards him with an irritated look on her face. It was Zoe, of course.

"I thought you said you'd meet me at the D-Lab at eleven o clock, so when you didn't show up I went home to you, and then your mum told me you and Dr. Taylor had gone to the police!" She said, sounding very impatient.

"Well, you see, Zoe…" Max started.

"And who's that?" Zoe suddenly asked as her eyes fell on Marco.

"Well, his name's Marco" Max said quickly "We found him unconscious in our yard last night, so we had to take him to the police to see if they had found his parents. He's kind of having a problem with his memory so…"

"What? He's lost his parents?" Zoe said, but now she sounded worried instead.

"Well, that's what we think anyway" Max said, glad that Zoe seemed to have forgotten the fact that he had been late for their meeting "Like I said; he can't really seem to remember where he came from, and how he ended up here. Matter of fact, the only thing he really seems to remember right now is his name."

"Poor guy" Zoe said quietly "Losing your parents really isn't fun, right?"

"My thought exactly…" Max murmured. For a brief moment none of them said anything.

"Well" Max said, breaking the silence "Lets go to the D-Lab then, shall we?"

"Well, to be honest I'm not sure that's such a good idea…" Zoe said thoughtfully.

"What? Why not?" Max asked in surprise.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, but last night there was a black-out in our area…" Zoe said, and Max realised she spoke of whatever had happened before they found Marco.

"So what?" He said.

"Well, it kind of caused the D-Lab computer to shut down, so Reese has been working to fix it all morning, but she hasn't had much success, and therefore she's in quite a bad mood..." Zoe explained.

"Maybe we could try to help her out?" Max suggested.

"Well, I guess we could try…" Zoe said slowly.

"Then I'm coming to!" Dr. Taylor's suddenly said. He had apparently stopped walking when he had heard Zoe calling, and now he came walking towards them.

"Ok" Max said "Marco, do you want to come to?" Marco didn't answer, but nodded slightly.

"Very well, let's go then!" Zoe said.

* * *

><p>As the group entered the D-Lab they almost immediately noticed Reese sitting in front of the blank screen of the lab's main computer, her hands flying across the keyboard.<p>

"Hey, Reese." Zoe said carefully to her sister.

"Hey, Zoe." Reese replied without turning around. There was clear tone of annoyance in her usual monotone voice, clearly indicating she really didn't want to be disturbed.

"How's it going?" Zoe asked her.

"Not too well" Reese replied impatiently "For some reason I just can't seem to get this thing working right…" She rose from her chair, and turned to face the group.

"Maybe I should just give up…" She sighed.

"Don't you worry you little head, Reese!" Dr. Taylor said heartily "I know a sure-fire way to get this thing to work!"

"Really?" Reese said doubtfully.

"Of course!" He said as he walked up to the computer, raising his fist, but before he could do anything, Reese had grabbed him firmly by the ear.

"I thought we already made this clear, Dr. Taylor" Reese said impatiently while dragging him away from the computer "Violence and technology just don't mix."

"Please let go!" Dr. Taylor squealed in pain "I was just trying to help!"

"If that is the only help you have to offer, Dr. Taylor, I think I'd rather have you not helping at all." Reese replied.

Max and Zoe just watched the two of them and sweatdropped.

"How am I supposed to get this thing working?" Reese sighed as she returned to her chair.

"Please, let me take a look at it." Marco suddenly said. Reese looked at him.

"Pardon me" She said "But who are you?"

"His name's Marco." Max quickly explained.

"And I thought Max said you had problems with your memory" Zoe said "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"It's true there are lots of things I just can't seem to remember" Marco replied "But I think that some of my memories are starting to come back to me. And for some reason I just know that working with computers is definitely part of who I am."

Reese looked at him again, as if trying to decide whether she should accept his offer or not.

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt…" She said at last "As long as you're careful, that is."

"Don't worry, I will" Marco replied as Reese moved away from the computer, and he sat down. Max, Zoe, Reese and Dr. Taylor watched as Marco's hands flew swiftly across the keyboard, and suddenly the computer's screen flickered and a whole load of numbers and letters started appearing on it as Marco kept working the keyboard.

"Well, he sure seems to know what he's doing." Reese said, actually sounding slightly impressed, when the screen suddenly flickered and turned blank again "Or maybe not." She said.

Then the screen suddenly flickered again, but this time it didn't show the numbers or codes: Instead it now showed the overview of a room, very much like the D-Lab. They could see a door and right next to it there was a bookshelf, crammed with books. There was also a table with lots of papers scattered all over it, and there where piles of papers on the floor as well.

"What's going on?" Max asked in confusion.

"It looks like your friend activated the communication screen…" Reese started, but right then they could see the door in the room showed on the screen open up, and a man entered the room. The man had short bright brown hair and wore a blue suit. He walked right up to the bookshelf and started going through the books. Max almost immediately recognized the man.

"Dr. Ancient?" He cried out in surprise.


	4. The way to the future

Chapter 4:

Dr. Ancient whirled around, obviously surprised, looking around wildly to find out who had been calling his name. He suddenly looked straight towards them, and ran up closer, meaning there had to be a communication screen wherever he were as well. The look on his face told them all too clearly that he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Max? Zoe?" He said sounding completely stunned "What on earth…?"

"It looks like Marco somehow opened a communication link between our time and the future..." Reese murmured, sounding just as stunned as Dr. Ancient.

"Even seeing you with my own eyes, I still have problems believing it" Dr. Ancient said, still completely in awe "How can this be?"

"We don't really know, we…" Reese started, but Max suddenly interrupted her.

"Dr. Ancient!" He said "Do you have Rex there? Can we please talk to him?"

Dr. Ancient seemed pretty surprised by Max's sudden request, but at the same time it seemed like he was starting to get over the shock of seeing them pop up at the communicator.

"Of course, I'll get him right away!" He said and ran out through the door.

"Can you believe it?" Max said excitedly to Zoe "We're actually going to see Rex again!"

"Yeah, I never thought it would happen!" Zoe replied, sounding just as excited as Max.

* * *

><p>After about a minute, the door opened again and Dr. Ancient entered the room, along with Rex!<p>

But he wasn't alone: Following right behind him where three baby dinosaurs: A Triceratops, a Carnotaurus and a Parasaurolophus. Rex looked a bit confused, but when his eyes fell on the screen, his face instantly lit up and he smiled with joy.

"Max! Zoe!" He cried as he walked up to the screen to talk to them "Is it really you?"

"Of course it is, Rex!" Max replied, hardly able to contain his happiness "And Chomp…"

When he said its name, the little Triceratops immediately looked up from the floor, looking straight at Max, and almost instantly it made a leap towards the screen. Luckily, Rex was able to grab it before it hit the screen.

"I'm sorry, Chomp..." Max said sadly "I really wish I could actually be there with you…"

"Hold on a second!" Zoe said as she walked up to the screen "Didn't Seth say that our dinosaurs would be stuck in Battle Mode forever if we used the Stone Copies before we fought the Space Pirates?"

"Yeah" Rex said "But dad was able to reverse the effect and make them small again."

"Well" Dr. Ancient said and laughed "I don't think I could have done it without Seth's help."

"What? So Seth's awake?" Max asked in surprise.

"He woke up from that coma just three weeks ago" Rex replied "And from the looks of things; he's doing fine!"

"Then what about the others?" Zoe asked "How's the Alpha Gang? And the old lady?"

Both Rex and Dr. Ancient suddenly got a frightened look on their faces.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Zoe asked, but before they could answer the door behind them swung open, and three people came running into the room: A green-haired woman, a rather long, skinny man and much shorter, rather tubby man.

"WHO DARED CALL ME AN OLD LADY!" Ursula bellowed as she ran into room, closely followed by Ed and Zander who both tried their hardest to restrain her.

"Ursula, calm down!" Ed begged while holding her back by her clothes "You're just hearing things!"

"Yeah" Zander said while holding onto her arms "Nobody here calls you…You-Know-What."

"When it comes to that word, my sense of hearing is unmatched and unmistakeable" She snapped "I know someone called me an old lady, so who was it?" She said as she looked furiously around the room.

"Um, hey you guys!" Zoe said carefully. Ursula's eyes immediately shifted to the screen, and she ran up to it with a mad look on her face.

"I should have known!" She growled "Even when we're in different times you just can't stop insulting me! You better take that back right now, you little brat, or else I will…"

But before she could say anything else, the door flung open again, and Helga, the Alpha Gang's android housekeeper, entered the room with a very stern look on her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you three" She said angrily as she walked towards Ed, Zander and Ursula "That you're not allowed to bother Dr. Ancient while he's working?"

"But that little brat just called me…" Ursula started, but Helga interrupted her.

"And didn't I tell you three just ten minutes ago to go and make your beds and clean up your rooms? Now get to it!" She said while towering over them.

"Yes, Helga…" They all said in unison, and walked after her out of the room.

There was a pretty long silence that followed.

* * *

><p>"Well" Dr. Ancient said at last, attempting to get the conversation going again "I must say I'm impressed you managed to open a communication link between the past and the future. I assume it was your doing, Reese?"<p>

"Actually, it was Marco who did it." Max said. Dr. Ancient's face got a confused look, and he turned to Rex, but he just shook his head.

"I don't know dad, that's a new name for me as well." He said.

"What do you mean?" Max asked in surprise "It's this guy right here…" He said as he turned towards the chair, only to realise Marco wasn't sitting there anymore.

"Hey, where did he…?" Zoe said as they all looked around the room, and soon they realised he had been walking up to one of the large dinosaur fossils put up on display in the lab, and now he stood watching it with a distant look on his face.

"Hey, Marco!" Max called, and Marco jumped in surprise, as if he had forgotten they where in the room "Could you come over here?" He asked, and Marco walked back to the chair.

"So you're Marco?" Dr. Ancient said to him as he walked up to the computer again.

"Yes, at least I think so…" Marco replied. Dr. Ancient once again looked confused, and Max felt hurried to explain.

"You see, we found him unconscious in our yard last night, and he appears to be suffering from amnesia, so he's having some problems remembering things about himself…"

"Oh!" Dr. Ancient said understandingly "Well, that certainly doesn't make it any less impressive that he managed to open this communication link through time."

"Yeah, it's truly amazing!" Rex said happily "Now we can…Hey, Max, what's wrong?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Max said quickly.

"Well, for a moment there you looked really troubled…" Rex replied.

"What do you mean, I'm perfectly fine!" Max said with a strained smile.

"Max, you know I know you better than that." Rex said, now sounding serious.

"No, really. It's nothing..." Max murmured.

"Don't lie!" Zoe said sternly "You look completely devastated!"

Max hesitated for a moment.

"Don't get me wrong or anything..." He said at last "It's great that we can talk to you guys and all, it's just that I wish we could…Well…Really see each other again…"

"I get it" Zoe said "You wish we could actually visit Rex, or that he could come visit us, right?"

"Yeah." Max said quietly.

"Me to" Rex said, now sounding saddened as well "But that's pretty much impossible. The Time Machine we took from the Space Pirates broke down as soon as we arrived back home, just as we thought it would, and it's beyond repair. And since we don't have The Backland anymore, there's basically no way for us to travel back to your time again..."

"Can't you build a new Time Machine?" Max asked.

"I'm afraid we can't." Dr. Ancient said "And even if we could, with the resources we have right now, it would take at least twenty years to finish it."

"Twenty years?" Zoe repeated.

"Yes, and not only that: The way things are, even if we managed to build a new one, the chances of it actually managing the journey to the past would be about ten percent at best."

"And where we are, we don't have the knowledge or technology to even build one." Reese said, putting her hand on Zoe's shoulder. Everyone was completely silent again...

* * *

><p>Marco, on the other hand, had suddenly got a thoughtful look on his face, and he once again sat down in front of the computer and started working on the keyboard again.<p>

"Hey, Marco, what are you doing?" Max asked.

"Just give me a second…" He murmured as his hands kept flying across the keyboard.

"For what?"

Marco turned around and looked at Max, looking right into his eyes, and as their eyes met, Max could have sworn there was something different about him: Rather than the distant and confused look he had had before, he now had a more serious, determined look in his eyes...

"What do you mean? I thought you said you wanted to go to the future…?" He replied. Max just stared at him.

"Are you serious?" He asked, completely in awe.

"It could be a little tricky, but if I can just get this program to work, it shouldn't be all too difficult…" Marco said, as he turned towards the screen again.

"What are you two talking about?" Zoe asked.

"Marco says he can take us to the future!" Max replied, now sounding very excited.

"Oh, come on, Max! I'm sure Marco's clever and all, but there's just no way on earth he could actually get us to the future, is there?" Zoe said impatiently, turning towards Marco "You're not serious, right?"

"As serious as I'll ever be." Marco replied. Zoe just stared. Right then, the screen flickered and the words ENTER USERNAME appeared on it. Marco pressed a couple of keys and the words vanished, but were quickly replaced by the words ENTER PASSWORD.

"You two better step up closer…" Marco said to Max and Zoe as he pressed a few more keys.

"You heard him, come on, Zoe!" Max said and grabbed her wrist to drag her closer to Marco.

"Max, you don't really think…" Zoe started, when the screen flickered again and the words ACCESS GRANTED appeared on it.

"Hold on, you two." Marco said as he pressed one of the keys.

And it happened immediately.

Max felt it like he was falling down a giant hole or something. Suddenly everything around him was like a whirl of different colours, and he could hear a deafening noise all around him. He looked around and saw Zoe falling not far away from him, and tried to call out to her, but the noise that surrounded him totally drowned his words. Even though he couldn't hear it, he was pretty sure she was screaming, which wasn't very surprising given what was happening to them. He tried to move towards her, but he just couldn't seem to control which way he was falling, and eventually he gave up. Instead he looked away from Zoe and almost immediately spotted Marco, who was falling a little bit away from him and Zoe. He didn't seem very scared, though: As a matter of fact, his face once again had a confused and distant look on it, as if he wasn't falling at all. Max forced his eyes off the two of them, and instead he started looking around himself. For a moment he could swear he could see glimpses of places and people in the swirls of colour, but trying to make them out soon made him feel sick. Max closed his eyes, whishing this would all stop, when suddenly the noise died down, and in the next moment his feet hit solid ground, but since it had happened so suddenly, he lost his balance and fell down on all fours. He could hear a thud near him, meaning Marco and Zoe had landed wherever they had ended up as well. Max opened his eyes, but he immediately had to blink. He couldn't believe what he saw.


	5. Reunion of D

Chapter 5:

"Max? Zoe?" Rex said as he stared at them in amazement.

"Rex?" Max said, sounding just as amazed as Rex, and looked around. He was now lying on all fours on the floor in the exact same room they had previously seen on the D-lab's communication screen. There was no doubt about it: They had done it. They really _had_ travelled to the future!

"It worked…" Max said while rising to his feet "We really made it to the future!"

"Impossible…" Dr. Ancient said, completely in disbelief "Having you contact us on the communicator is one thing…But for you to actually come here to this time…"

While he was talking, Zoe rose back up from the floor as well. She immediately rushed up to Rex and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

"Zoe…" Rex said, still in a tone that clearly indicated that he still really couldn't fully believe they were actually there.

"We've missed you so much…" She murmured "I can't believe we're actually back together again!"

"I've missed you guys to…" Rex replied, still completely amazed.

The door to the room suddenly opened again, and Rex's mother Dr. Cretacia, a rather skinny woman with blond hair and glasses, entered the room.

"What's going on in here…?" She said, but in the next second her eyes fell on Max and Zoe, and she immediately stopped dead "Max? Zoe?" She gasped "How on Earth did you get here?"

"From the looks of things, they somehow found a way to travel from the past to our time." Dr. Ancient said as he walked up to her "And as if that wasn't enough, it would seem like they did it without even needing a Time Machine…"

"But that's impossible…" Dr. Cretacia said and turned to Zoe "Just how on Earth did you do it?"

Zoe quickly stopped hugging Rex and turned to talk to Dr. Cretacia instead.

"Well…" She started when, suddenly, she felt a soft nudge against her leg. She looked down and noticed that it was Paris pulling on her sock, trying to get her attention. Zoe quickly sat back down on the floor, allowing Paris to crawl up on her lap. The little Parasaurolophus gently leaned its head against Zoe's cheek, and she stroke Paris's crested head.

"I've missed you so much, my sweet little Paris…" Zoe murmured "I can't believe we're actually back together again…" Paris closed her eyes and made a calming little sound, clearly indicating she was just as happy to see Zoe again.

Meanwhile Max walked up to Chomp and picked him up in his arms. The little Triceratops immediately seized the opportunity to bite onto Max's nose. It really hurt, but Max didn't care. He felt it like he wouldn't have cared even if Chomp would have bitten his nose right off; he was way too happy to see him again.

"Aw, Chomp…" Max said as tears started welling up in his eyes. Chomp stopped biting Max's nose, and looked at him with a worried look in his eyes.

"Its okay, Chomp, I'm fine" Max said, sniffling a little "It's just that…I'm just so happy to see you again, pal…"

The little triceratops began to nudge Max's cheek, as if trying to wipe the tears away.

"Aw, Chomp…" Max said again, and hugged Chomp tightly, and Chomp even placed his front legs onto Max's shoulders, almost as if he was trying to hug Max back…

Rex walked over to Ace, and picked him up. The little Carnotaurus struggled for a second in his arms, but he quickly calmed down and looked up at Rex. Rex looked back at Ace and smiled, and then he looked up at his friends in front of him.

"I never thought that this day would come…" He murmured "To think we're actually back together again…The D-team…" He looked at Ace again, stroking him. Ace gave a satisfied growl.

_Bang!_

They all jumped in surprised at the sudden noise, and they quickly looked around to see just what had happened. It wasn't hard to guess: From the looks of things Marco had wandered off aimlessly once again, like he had previously done at the D-Lab, and from the looks of things he had tripped over one of the stacks of books lying on the floor and fallen right into the bookshelf near the door, causing dozens of heavy books to come falling down on him.

"Oh dear!" Dr. Cretacia said, quickly walking up to Marco to help him "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I think so…" He said while rubbing his head as Dr. Cretacia helped him back up on his feet "I'm really sorry about this...I didn't mean to cause such a mess…I guess I should have…"

Chomp and Ace suddenly jumped out of Max's and Rex's arms, and Paris jumped down from Zoe's lap, and the three of them immediately began running towards Marco.

"Hey! Chomp, wait!" Max called, well aware of Chomp's habit of biting whatever he saw "Get back here! Leave him alone!"

But he didn't seem to hear him at all. Rex and Zoe called for Ace and Paris to stop and come back to them as well, but just like Chomp they refused to listen, and in the next second they all stopped in front of Marco. Max, Rex and Zoe were just about to run after them, when they stopped in surprise. Ace and Paris where now both rubbing their heads against Marco's leg, while Chomp was tugging on his jeans with his mouth as if trying to get his attention: For some reason they all seemed very fond of him...

"Hey, what's going on?" Max asked in surprise.

"Looks like they really like him…" Zoe said.

"But why? They've never met him before…" Rex said wonderingly "I mean; he's never been here before..."

"Hey Marco, do you really know them?" Max asked as he walked up to him.

"I don't think so…" He replied "At least not from what I can remember…" He leaned down and patted Ace's head. The little Carnotaurus closed its eyes and gave a content growl.

"If he's never met them before, how come they act like that?" Zoe said, walking up to Max as Marco turned to pet Chomp and Paris as well, who both seemed very pleased about being pat by him "What do you think, Rex?"

"Don't ask me, I've never met him before." Rex shrugged.

"Maybe…" Max said slowly.

"Maybe what, Max?" Zoe asked.

"Well…He did kind of appear out of nowhere, right?" Max said.

"Yeah?"

"And he did manage to open up a way to the future, so…"

"So what?" Zoe said, clearly starting to feel a little impatient.

"So…Don't you think it's possible that he might have come here from the future as well? Maybe that's how he knows them: He met them here before losing his memory!" Max said.

None of them said anything for a while.

"Don't be silly, Max" Zoe said at last "There's just no way he could be!"

"Yeah, even though he took you guys here, I'd still say that sounds a little farfetched..." Rex said "And like I said; I've never met him before, so even if he came to you guys from the future, he's not from around here. So that still can't explain how he knows them, that is; if he really do know them at all."

"I guess you're right" Max sighed, looking at Marco "Well...Perhaps he can tell us once his memory returns…"

The door to the room suddenly opened up again, and Rod and Laura, Dr. Z's grandchildren, entered the room.

"Hey, is it true we've been contacted by Max and Zoe?" Rod asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we heard from Ursula and the others that…" Laura started when her eyes suddenly fell on Max and Zoe, standing right next to Rex. Rod quickly realised what his sister was looking at as well, and they both stared at them in amazement.

"You guys are actually here?" Rod said in amazement.

"How did you do that?" Laura asked, still staring at them.

"Well, it's a long story…" Max said when Dr. Ancient suddenly walked up to them.

"How about you show Max and Zoe around? After all, they've never been here before." He said with a little smile "Then they can tell you all about how they got here."

"Good idea!" Max said and Zoe nodded in agreement. Dr. Ancient then turned to Marco. "You said your name was Marco, right?" He asked "Would you mind staying here for a while? There's some things I'd like to talk to you about..."

"Of course." Marco replied.

Ace, Paris and Chomp left Marco and joined up with Max, Rex and Zoe as they walked after Rod and Laura through the door, leaving Marco with Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia.


	6. Future holiday

Chapter 6:

"So what you're saying is that you get woken up by an earthquake, and when you go to check it out, you get blinded by some strange light? Next thing this Marco guy appears out of nowhere and somehow he manages to take you and Zoe here to the future?" Rod asked Max as they walked down the corridor.

"That's really hard to believe..." Laura said in amazement.

"Yeah, I know what you mean…" Max said "But forget about that now: How's things been around here?" He asked.

"Pretty much the same." Laura replied "Only a bit more calm and peaceful than they where back then, if you know what I mean…" They couldn't help but smiling.

"So what have you guys been doing?" Zoe asked them.

"Mostly we're just trying to keep up with our studies" Rod said "Helga always cracks the whip on us…"

"But since the summer holiday just started, we don't have to think about that right now." Laura added.

"So…Does that mean Dr. Z's still going on about becoming the Dinosaur King?" Max asked with a little grin.

"Yeah" Rod said, grinning as well "But he's careful not to mention it when Dr. Ancient or Helga is around: He knows all too well what they think about it…"

"Guess you just can't teach an old man new tricks…" Zoe said with a little laugh.

"Can't argue with that." Laura said with a giggle.

"But I heard that Seth woke up from that coma he was in pretty recently, so how…" Max started, when a door right in front of them suddenly opened, and a man with blue hair wearing a lab coat stepped out in front of them.

"Seth?" Max said in surprise. Seth turned around to face them.

"Max. Zoe." He said in his usual calm voice. Unlike Dr. Ancient and the others he didn't seem very surprised to see them, though: The way he looked at them was more like they had been there all the time.

"Ummm…Everything okay?" Max asked carefully. Seth looked at him.

"I'm fine, Max." He replied shortly "But I can't talk to you right now, I've got work to do."

"What do you mean?" Rod asked "I thought you helped grandpa finish those blueprints yesterday?"

"And Dr. Ancient said you already completed the computer checklist over all the dinosaurs, to." Laura said.

"Yes, but I've recently discovered something else that needs investigation." Seth replied.

"Like what?" Rex asked. Seth looked at them. Even though his facial expression didn't change, something told Max all too clearly he was overweighting just how much he should let them know. Or if he should tell them anything at all…

"I'm not sure yet" He said after a short while "But I've been monitoring some strange signals just outside of town pretty recently."

"What kind of signals?" Laura asked.

"I don't know yet, but I don't believe it's anything to worry about." Seth replied, but Max wasn't sure if he really meant it, or if it was just something he said…

"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to work. We can talk more about this later." And with those words he walked right past them and went trough a door on the other side of the corridor.

"Wow…" Max said "Some things never change."

"Well, Seth's actually changed quite a bit ever since he woke up." Rod said "Sure, he hasn't become more talkative or social, but he's actually trying really hard to help grandpa and Rex's dad with their research."

"Yeah, and I heard Rex's mum say just yesterday that he's a really great help, and that she thinks he's actually sorry about all the trouble he caused us before." Laura added.

"Whoa! Look at the time!" Rod suddenly said, looking at his wristwatch "We better get ready for dinner, or else Helga's going to make us do the dishes for a week."

"Well, _there's _one thing that haven't changed." Max said with a grin, and the rest of the group grinned as well, before rushing off.

* * *

><p>Once they had finished dinner, Rex showed Max and Zoe to his room, and Max was slightly surprised to see that it looked almost exactly the same as the room he had had when he was still living with them: The same desk, the same books in the bookshelf, even the bed was the same and it even stood in pretty much the same place as it had done back then.<p>

"I guess you really didn't want to forget how things where like before…" Max said while looking around the room.

"Hey, what did you expect?" Rex said as he sat down on the bed along with Ace "I did live with you guys for twelve years, you know."

"Yeah, but you do live with your real family now, right?" Max replied.

"It doesn't matter: You guys will always be family to me!" Rex said and smiled at them.

"Thanks, pal!" Max said and smiled to.

"Speaking of family, how come your parents didn't have dinner with us?" Zoe suddenly asked "Come to think of it I didn't see Dr. Z either; the only ones there except for us, Rod and Laura was Helga, Jonathan, Ed, Zander and the ol…" Max quickly put his hand over her mouth "Sorry, Ursula, I mean." She finished.

"Well, Dr. Z's probably busy working, or he's just having problems with his back again…" Rex said "As for mum and dad, I don't know…Last time I saw them was when we left them in the lab with that Marco guy who brought you here."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Jonathan, the Ancient's android butler, entered the room.

"Pardon me, master Rex" He said with a bow "But you father would like for you, Max and Zoe to come to the lab right away."

"What? Why?" Rex asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know. That's all your father told me." Jonathan replied.

"Very well, let's go then!" Max said. Rex and Zoe nodded, and they followed Jonathan out trough the door, closely followed by Chomp, Ace and Paris.

* * *

><p>When the group entered the lab, Max almost immediately noticed that the communicator screen had been turned on, and he was slightly surprised to see that Reese and his father had appeared on it.<p>

"What's up, dad?" Rex asked his father who was standing next to the screen with Dr. Cretacia and Marco.

"Maybe you could help me explain, Reese?" He said as he turned towards the screen.

"Certainly, Dr. Ancient" Reese replied, and turned to look at Rex and the others "Dr. Ancient's been doing some research on that time-travelling program Marco used to transport you to the future, and with some of his help, we were able to re-establish the communication link from earlier so that we could discuss it and thus we managed to learn some more about it."

"So what have you learned about it?" Zoe asked.

"Well, to be honest we have yet to fully understand it. It appears to be far more advanced than we actually expected... But there's something in particular we thought you need to know about it." Reese replied.

"Yeah? Like what?" Max asked.

"Well, from what we've been able to tell, it seems to put quite a strain on the D-Lab computer, meaning it's definitely not meant for multi-time use. If we were to use it too many times, chances are you could end up stuck in the future forever, or even worse; you could end up in a totally different time with no means to get back." Reese said seriously.

"You mean we might not be able to return home?" Zoe said worriedly.

"Don't worry; our calculations clearly indicate we'll have no problems to send you back to the present." Reese replied "But once we do, you definitely should steer clear from using the program again."

"So...In other words, once we use it to get back to the present, we won't be able to use it to go the future and see Rex again?" Max asked.

"That's more or less exactly what it means." Reese said.

"I see…" Max said darkly.

"Cheer up, Max!" Dr. Taylor said, clearly noticing Max's troubled face "There's some good news, too!"

"Really?" Max said, immediately feeling slightly more hopeful "What is it, dad?"

"Well, your mother and I have had a little talk, you see: Since the summer holiday just started, we thought that maybe you would like to spend it with Rex and the others in the future?"

Max's heart made a leap. He could hardly contain his joy.

"Really? You mean it?" He cried out in happiness.

"Of course" Dr. Taylor replied with a big grin before turning to Zoe "And Reese has already talked to your parents, Zoe, and they have given their approval. All that remains is to ask if it's okay with you two?" He said and turned to Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia.

"It would be our pleasure to have them here!" They replied with a smile.

"Well, then it's settled!" Dr. Taylor said. "But we figured that if you're going to spend so many weeks so far away from home, you're going to need extra clothes and other things that might come in handy." He said and turned towards two large bags standing behind him in the D-Lab.

"We thought we'd send them to you using the time-program, so would you lend us a hand, Marco?" Reese asked.

"Of course." Marco replied, and he quickly sat down and started to work the keyboard, and in the next second, the bags vanished from the floor in the D-lab, only to appear in front of them just a few seconds later. Max immediately opened his bag, and started to go through the content: There were extra clothes, his pyjamas, some of his favourite comic books and…

"Hey, what's this?" He said and held up two small packages wrapped in brown paper.

"That's your DinoBracers." Reese replied "I put Rex's in amongst your things, Max, and yours should be in your bag as well, Zoe."

"But, what for?" Zoe asked "We're only going to be here on summer vacation, right? I mean, all the dinosaurs are safe now, and there are no bad guys we'll need to fight against either."

"That may be. But I found it best to include them anyway." Reese replied "After all, it's always better to be safe than sorry."

"Reese…You're sounding just like mum…" Zoe sighed. It looked as if Reese was about to say something, but Dr. Taylor cut in between.

"Anyway, you kids make sure to have a really good time now! And don't forget to contact us every now and again, so that we'll know everything's fine! Well then…Till next time!" Dr. Taylor finished, before the communication cut off, leaving the screen blank again.

"This is great!" Max said and turned to Rex and Zoe "We'll get to spend the whole summer together, isn't that just the best?"

"No doubt!" Rex replied with a big smile "And like Zoe just said; this time there will be no need to worry about saving the dinosaurs or stopping some bad guys from taking over the universe, we can just spend all this time having fun!"

"Yeah, this will be the best summer holiday ever!" Zoe said.

"Well then, let's start by preparing rooms for you two to stay in." Dr. Cretacia said as she walked up to Max and Zoe.

"Would you two mind lending us a hand?" Dr. Ancient asked Jonathan and Marco.

"Certainly." Jonathan replied. Marco just nodded.

* * *

><p>And so they spent the rest of the evening preparing the rooms next to Rex's for Max and Zoe to stay in during their staying. With some help from Jonathan they were able to get a bed carried into each of the rooms, and then they went on to unpacking their bags and get everything in order. Once they were finished, they all helped out to prepare another room a little bit down the corridor for Marco to stay in, and once that was done, it was almost time to go to bed.<p>

Changing into his pyjamas Max crawled into bed. As Chomp crawled up right next to him, he leaned his back against the wall and thought for a while: Same time last night, he would never have dared to believe that he would actually get to spend the whole summer here in the future with Rex, Zoe and all the others. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have thought that the day he and Zoe had planned to spend in memory of Rex and their dinosaurs, would actually be the day when they got reunited...

"Things just can't get any better now…" He murmured.

Beside him Chomp had already fallen asleep. Max smiled, and reached out his hand, patting Chomp's head gently. Then he yawned and leaned back against the pillow, closing his eyes, and a few moments later he had fallen asleep as well.


	7. An ominous sign

Chapter 7:

When Max woke up next morning, the first thing he noticed was Chomp sleeping peacefully beside him in the bed. He went out of bed and walked over to the window in the room and opened it. The sunlight flowing in felt nice and warm on his face, and he could hear the birds chirping outside. He smiled as he looked out over the nearby city outside the window: Even though he knew this was the future, somehow it felt almost exactly like home...

"_It's strange…_" He thought to himself "_No matter what time you live in, I guess there are some things that just won't change…_"

Suddenly he felt something pinching his leg and looked down. From the looks of things, Chomp had just woken up as well and walked up to him unnoticed, and now he was biting on Max's leg.

"Hey Chomp" Max said and picked him up "What's the matter?" No sooner had he said that before he heard a growl coming from Chomp's stomach, and in the next second his stomach growled as well.

"I guess we could both use some breakfast…" He said and put Chomp down "I'll just get dressed…" He quickly changed into his usual clothes and was about to leave, when a thought crossed his mind: He went over to his bag and picked up the package containing his DinoBracer and opened it. He looked at it for a while before stuffing it into his trouser pocket, and then he went out through the door followed by Chomp.

As he closed the door behind him, the door right next to it opened up, and Rex, accompanied by Ace, came out through it, wearing his usual clothes: A light blue jacket over a white t-shirt and a pair of beige pants. He almost immediately noticed Max, and his face once again lit up.

"Hey guys!" Max said "How are you?"

"I'm doing great, Max" Rex replied "But I must admit I was a bit worried when I woke up…"

"What for?" Max asked.

"Well, even after all that happened yesterday, it still felt so unbelievable to see you guys again, so I was a bit scared of waking up and find out it had been just a dream…Ouch!"

Max pinched Rex in the side.

"Don't worry, Rex." Max said "It's not a dream! And you better believe it!"

"You're right, Max" Rex said while rubbing the place where Max had pinched him "It's not a dream, I see it now." They both laughed.

"Would you two keep it down a little?" Someone suddenly said. Max turned around and noticed that Zoe, accompanied by Paris, was standing in front of them. She was still wearing her nightgown, and her hair was standing on end.

"Hey, Zoe, you're awake to?" Rex said.

"Like I could sleep with you two loudmouths outside the door…" She replied irritably and yawned "You know I'm no morning person..."

"Well, I'm going to go get some breakfast" Max said "Are you guys coming to?"

"Sure." Rex replied.

"Well…Just give me a minute to change…" Zoe said and went back into her room with Paris.

A moment later she came out again, wearing her usual short, black shirt and yellow vest, yellow shorts and thigh-length socks, and she had put up her hair in her usual pig tails.

"All right, let's go then!" Max said, and they started walking down the corridor, closely followed by Chomp, Ace and Paris.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, kids!" Dr. Cretacia said as they entered the kitchen "I thought I heard you three, so I made breakfast for all of you. Oh, and for your dinosaurs, to" She added.<p>

"Oh, thanks a lot, Mrs. Ancient!" Zoe said, and Dr. Cretacia smiled at her.

"You kids enjoy." She said "I'll be in the lab with your father if you need me, dear." She said to Rex, and ruffled his hair before walking out of the room.

"Yes, mum…" Rex said.

"Hey! Let's eat!" Max said, and they all sat down around the table.

"So, what should we do today?" Rex asked.

"I don't know" Max said with his mouth full "What do you think, Zoe?"

"Well, is there a beach somewhere around here?" She asked Rex "It looks like it's going to be hot today, so maybe we could go swimming?"

"Hey! That's a great idea!" Max said.

"I don't know…" Rex said uncertainly "Ace might not like it…You know how he is about water…"

"Oh, yeah" Max said "Sorry, Ace, I forgot about that…"

Ace looked up from his bowl of food and gave Max a puzzled look. They all laughed.

"Well, we've got plenty of time, so we'll come up with something…Hey, what's that sound?" Zoe suddenly said.

"It sounds like it's coming from your pocket, Max." Rex said.

Max quickly put his hand into his pocket and pulled out the beeping DinoBracer from it, and he noticed that there was a blinking dot on the screen, like it had always been before when a new dinosaur appeared...

"It almost looks like it has picked up a Dinosaur Signal…" Max said, sounding surprised.

"You think it could have picked up the signal from one of the dinosaurs here in the house?" Zoe asked wonderingly.

"No, it can't have" Rex replied "Save for ours and the Alpha Gang's dinosaurs, all other dinosaurs we found before and those we saved from the Space Pirates are in their cards, and the Bracers doesn't pick up signals from cards, remember? And it won't pick up signals from dinosaurs that are in their small form, either. Also…" He said as he walked up to Max and looked at the DinoBracer's screen "The signal's not even coming from here…It almost looks like it's coming from the outskirts of the city…"

"But why would it pick up a Dinosaur Signal from the city?" Max asked in confusion "It just doesn't make any…" He started when Rod and Laura suddenly came running into the kitchen.

"Hey, what's the matter, Guys?" Zoe asked them.

"You have to come see this!" Rod said "Hurry!"

Max, Rex and Zoe quickly followed them out of the kitchen into the living room. Max quickly realised that there was a news report on TV. For a brief second he was surprised to actually see a TV there, seeing how this was the future and all, but he quickly got over it when he saw what was happening on screen: It showed groups of people fleeing in fear while a gigantic dinosaur was wreaking havoc amongst the nearby buildings. The dinosaur was quite clearly a carnivore, with huge jaws full of razor-sharp teeth. Its front legs were very small in comparison to its hind legs. And its massive body was covered in black and dark grey scales.

"What kind of dinosaur is that?" Max said, as he stared like hypnotized on the screen.

"I think it's a Giganotosaurus…" Zoe said.

"Giganotosaurus?" Max said, looking puzzled.

"It's a carnivorous dinosaur that was found in South America" Rex said "And some palaeontologists even think it was bigger than the T-Rex."

"Yeah, I remember now!" Max said, but the puzzled look on his face quickly returned again "But isn't that odd? I mean; we never encountered a Giganotosaurus while travelling the world before and the Space Pirates never used one, either." He said and turned to Rex and Zoe.

"Yeah, that's right!" Zoe said.

"And I don't remember seeing any data about a Giganotosaurus card in dad's computer…" Rex said thoughtfully "So where could it have come from…?"

"Hey, guys! Look!" Rod suddenly said, and they all turned to the TV again.

The Giganotosaurus on the screen had suddenly opened its jaws up wide, and what looked like a huge, dark fireball had started to form in its mouth. The ball kept growing bigger until, suddenly, the Giganotosaurus threw its head forward, causing the fireball to shoot out and hit a nearby building, causing a huge explosion and when the smoke cleared, the building had almost been completely disintegrated.

"Hey, was that…?" Zoe said in a shocked voice.

"It sure was…" Max said through gritted teeth.

"Fire Scorcher…" Rex said, completely in awe.

"You mean the move Seth used against us way back then?" Laura said, clearly indicating that she couldn't believe what she had just seen.

"Yeah" Rod said, also sounding stunned "But how's that possible?"

"Maybe we should try asking Seth about it?" Max suggested.

"Ask me about what, Max?" A voice said from behind them. They all whirled around, and saw that Seth was standing behind them. Max hesitated for a while; he never noticed that Seth had even entered the room…

"Well…" He started "We just saw on TV that a Giganotosaurus is going berserk right here in the city, and not only that; it just used your move! Fire Scorcher!"

For a brief moment Seth actually got a shocked look on his face, and he gave them all an intense look.

"That cannot be…" He said after a while "There is only one Fire Scorcher-card, and I lost it when I got sucked into that time hole after our battle back then."

"So, do you think someone could have stolen the data about it, and made a new one?" Zoe asked.

"That would be impossible to." Seth replied "When I had perfected that card I erased all the blueprints and data about it in order to prevent it from being used against me."

"In that case, how come that Giganotosaurus can use it?" Max asked "And just how did it get here, anyway?"

"Maybe…" Seth said slowly.

"Maybe what?" Rod asked.

"Perhaps whatever or whoever causing those strange signals I monitored before, is the same thing that caused that Giganotosaurus to appear..." Seth said. They all stared at him. Max suddenly realized that this was not the time to stand around and think about that: They had to do something!

"Well, whatever or whoever that caused it to appear must be stopped right away! Come on guys! Let's get over there!" He said, about to run of.

"Max, hold on a second!" Rex called "Do you even know where to go?"

"Um, no…" Max said and stopped.

"Also, you don't even have The Stone in your DinoBracer, Right? Without it you won't be able to do anything, as then you can't summon Chomp out in Battle Mode, remember?" Rex reminded him.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that…" Max murmured.

"So first we need to get The Stones, and I and Zoe need to go get our Dino Bracers, to." Rex added.

"Okay, okay, so let's go get them, then!" Max said impatiently "We can't waste any more time! Cause if we do, that dinosaur might actually hurt someone!" Zoe looked at Max.

"Normally I would say to take it easy, but he's got a point…" She said to Rex.

"Yeah, I know" Rex said "Guess we're going to have to fight that thing…"

"Okay, then let's go!" Max said. And they all ran of, followed by their dinosaurs.

* * *

><p>"Hey, what's going on?" Dr. Ancient said in surprise as Max and the others came rushing into the lab.<p>

"We don't have time to explain, dad" Rex panted "We need to have our Stones, and fast!"

Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia both looked at them with worried looks on their faces.

"Well, certainly…" Dr. Ancient said and walked over to a safe standing in the corner of the room. He unlocked it and took out a tray, containing all the seven Stone Fragments.

"Thanks a lot!" Max said and grabbed the Lightning Stone, while Rex took the Wind Stone and Zoe the Grass Stone.

"Are you kids okay?" Dr. Cretacia asked "You all look really troubled…"

"We'll explain later!" Max said as they ran of, leaving the two of them in confusion.

* * *

><p>They quickly rushed to their rooms so that Rex and Zoe could get the DinoBracers Reese had sent them. They all inserted the Stones into them, and quickly changed Chomp, Ace and Paris back into cards.<p>

"All right, let's go!" Max said "It's time for the D-team to head out again!" Rex and Zoe nodded.

"What's going on?" Someone suddenly said. They all whirled around and saw Marco standing in front of them, as usual with a distant look at his face.

"We can't talk right now" Max said "There's a Giganotosaurus wreaking havoc in the city, and it must be stopped!"

"What? A Giganotosaurus? Here?" Marco said, suddenly sounding shocked.

"Yeah, so we have to hurry up before it hurts anyone! Let's go!" He said and turned to Rex and Zoe.

"Hold on, I'm coming with you!" Marco said as they where about to run of. Max stared at him.

"No way! It's too dangerous! You could get seriously hurt, or even worse: Eaten!" He said.

"Please, you have to trust me, I…" Marco started when, suddenly, he fell down on his knees.

"Hey, are you okay?" Max said in a worried tone.

"My head…" Marco groaned while tightly clutching it with his hands "My head…It feels like it's going to burst…" They all looked worriedly at him.

"Well, in that case you _really_ shouldn't come with us…" Zoe said "Try to get some rest, instead."

"I guess your right…" Marco murmured, still clutching his head.

"We'll help you get back to your room!" Max said as he and Rex helped Marco back on his feet, and Zoe ran ahead to open the door to his room.

"Thanks…" Marco murmured as he stumbled back into his room "And good luck, all three of you…" And Zoe closed the door behind him.

"All right, then" Max said, once again turning to Rex and Zoe "Let's go!" And they rushed of.

* * *

><p>As they rushed out of the house and down towards the street, a dark figure was crouching in the shadow of the building, eyeing them as they ran of. The figure followed them with its eyes until they where out of sight. The figure then stood up and looked towards the city, where columns of smoke could be seen rising up in the distance. The figure looked at it for a brief moment.<p>

"Oh well" It said "And so it begins…"


	8. A new threat

Chapter 8:

"I think we're getting closer!" Max called back to Rex and Zoe as he rushed trough the city, while he kept checking the signal from his DinoBracer as he ran.

"Yeah!" Rex said from behind him "I recognize this area from the news, and we're definitely getting there!"

"Looks like that dinosaur scared away everyone around here…" Zoe said, as she looked around her "I hope no one's been hurt…"

"Well, it's easier to fight it if no one else is around" Max said "Then we don't have to worry about holding back, and we need to stop that thing as quickly as…" Suddenly he was interrupted by a loud roar, and as they turned around the next corner they saw it: The Giganotosaurus was just attacking a nearby building, causing large chunks of concrete and stone to fall crashing down to the ground.

"All right, Chomp, let's stop that Giganotosaurus!" Max said as he pulled out Chomp's card and slashed it.

"Dino Slash!" He cried "Go, Triceratops! Roar!" And in a blaze of light, Chomp appeared in his full form, ready for battle. The Giganotosaurus immediately turned around, almost as if it had felt Chomp's presence, and bared its teeth at him.

"Let's go, Chomp! Electric Charge!" Max called as he swiped the card. A bolt of lightning hit Chomp, electrifying him, and he rushed towards the Giganotosaurus, ramming it square in the centre of its body. But the attack didn't seem to affect the Giganotosaurus at all; it just shook itself a little and roared at Chomp.

"What? No effect?" Max cried out in shock, as the Giganotosaurus towered over him and Chomp.

"This doesn't look good, we better help out to, Zoe!" Rex said. Zoe nodded in agreement, and they both slashed their cards as well.

"Dino Slash! Carnotaurus, blow them away!" Rex cried, as Ace appeared in his full form and roared.

"Dino Slash! Spring up, Parasaurolophus!" Zoe cried, and Paris appeared in her full form as well.

"Help Chomp out, Ace! Cyclone!" Rex called and swiped the card. Ace ran towards the Giganotosaurus, surrounded by strong winds.

"You to, Paris! Metal Wing!" Zoe called, swiping her card as well. Three Pteranodons appeared and flew towards the Giganotosaurus, but before either of the moves could hit, the Giganotosaurus disappeared in a blaze of red light, causing their attacks to miss.

"Hey, where'd it go?" Zoe cried.

"It just vanished!" Rex said "But how?"

"Don't tell me…" Max said "Someone must be controlling it!"

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" A voice suddenly called.

Max looked around wildly to find out who had spoken, but he couldn't see anyone else around.

"Where are you?" He cried out "Show yourself!"

"Up here!" The voice called, and they all whirled around and saw a figure standing on top of the remains of a destroyed building.

"Who are you?" Zoe called.

The figure suddenly jumped of the building and landed in front of them. From the looks of things it was a person dressed in what looked like a long, white cloak with a large hood covering its face. On the figures chest there was a crimson red emblem that looked like a Tyrannosaurus skull, and in its right hand it held a sword, with a black, curved blade. The figure raised its left hand and removed the hood, revealing its face. From the looks of things it was a man with very long, white hair and rather pale skin. His face would actually have been quite handsome to look at, had it not been for his eyes: They where almost completely black, and seemed to radiate an intense wave of cold that felt like it could freeze anything near them to ice. Just by looking into them Max realized that this man was someone that could crush anyone or anything without feeling even the slightest bit of regret. He was evil; there was no doubt about it.

"Who are you?" Zoe called again.

"I'm the one who should be asking that question" The man said with a voice almost as cold as his eyes "Who asked you brats to come sticking your noses into my affairs?"

"Affairs?" Max said angrily "Who gave you the right to use your dinosaur to destroy this whole city?"

"Right?" The man said as a fiendish smirk spread across his face "You mean pleasure! Since I've got a big job ahead of me, I thought I'd have some fun while the preparations are being made."

"So you just sent out your dinosaur to destroy the city just because you thought it was fun?" Rex said furiously "You're obviously completely insane!" The man gave him a cold stare.

"Looks like you little insects need to be taught a lesson" he said as he reached into his cloak and pulled out a card from it "It's feeding time!" And he swiped the card along the blade of his sword, and in a blaze of red light the Giganotosaurus re-appeared in front of Chomp, Ace and Paris with a loud roar.

"All right, let's try this again, Chomp! Lightning Strike!" Max called and swiped the card. Chomp fired a burst of lightning from his horns, this time hitting the Giganotosaurus's in the side of its body, but once again it just shook it of as if nothing had happened.

"It won't work!" Rex called out to Max "We need to strike all at once!"

"Okay, then let's go!" Max replied "Lightning Spear!" He called.

"Cyclone!" Rex called.

"Stomping Hammer!" Zoe called.

Chomp and Ace both charged at the Giganotosaurus at the same time, each of them slamming into it with full force. Chomp's Lightning Spear sent a huge burst of electricity into the Giganotosaurus's body, while Ace literally managed to knock its feet away from under it, causing the electrified dinosaur to fall backwards into the destroyed building. Paris then slammed right into the centre of its body with her front feet, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Did it work?" Max said. In the next second there was a deafening roar, and as the dust cleared, they saw that the Giganotosaurus had risen back to its feet still with no visible injuries.

"No way! Even after all that?" Zoe cried in shock.

"Just how strong is that dinosaur?" Rex said in disbelief.

"Are you done?" The white-haired man asked in a mocking voice "I'm getting bored. Perhaps I should just finish this right now. Go! Destroy them!" The Giganotosaurus suddenly started running towards Chomp.

"Chomp!" Max cried "Watch out!" But it was too late. The Giganotosaurus slammed into Chomp, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Chomp!" Max cried. As Chomp struggled to stand back up, the Giganotosaurus charged at Ace and Paris. In the last second Ace was able to dodge its attack, but Paris wasn't quick enough. The Giganotosaurus slammed into her, sending her right into Chomp, causing both of them to crash into the nearby building.

"Paris, no!" Zoe cried. The Giganotosaurus once again charged at Ace, and this time he was less lucky: Even though he managed to dodge its charge again, this time the Giganotosaurus was able to hit him with a powerful blow from its tail, sending him flying through the air, and he landed hard next to Chomp and Paris.

"Oh, no! Ace!" Rex cried.

"It's over!" The white-haired man said triumphantly "Incinerate them!" And he swiped another card along the blade of his sword. Max immediately recognized the card: It was the Fire Scorcher move! The Giganotosaurus once again opened its jaws and the dark fireball began to form in its mouth. In the next second it threw its head forward and the fireball shot out towards Chomp, Ace and Paris. For a few seconds they where completely surrounded by the black flames, and as the flames died down they turned back into cards in a flash of light.

"Chomp!" Max cried as he rushed to pick up Chomp's card, and swiped it to make Chomp appear in his small form. Chomp made a weak little sound as Max picked him up.

"I think they're all right…" Zoe said as she swiped Paris's card and picked her up in her arms as well. Paris's eyes where closed, but she was clearly still breathing.

"They took a lot of damage from that attack, but they should be fine once they get to rest a bit…" Rex replied as he did the same with Ace. The little Carnotaurus growled weakly in his arms.

"It's too bad they won't get the chance" The white-haired man said as he walked up them with an evil grin, followed by the Giganotosaurus, who towered over them "Because I'm going to crush you all right here and…" He started when, suddenly, something big slammed into the Giganotosaurus, sending it reeling backwards. It was a Tyrannosaurus!

"Terry?" Max said, staring at the T-Rex "But that must mean…"

"Looks like we came just in the nick time!" Called a familiar voice. Max turned around and saw Dr. Z come running towards them, followed by Ed, Zander and Ursula "Our Alpha Scanners picked up a signal from here in the city, and just as we where about to leave, Rod and Laura told me a Giganotosaurus where going berserk in the city, and that you three had already left!" He said as he ran up to them. Meanwhile, Zander and Ed sent out Spiny and Tank, and they both immediately rushed at the Giganotosaurus, who was still surprised from being attacked by Terry, sending it crashing to the ground. Max had never been happier to see them.

"Thanks a lot, you guys!" Rex called when he spotted them.

"You're here to, Old Lady?" Zoe asked in surprise when she saw Ursula.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME OLD! I'M NOT OLD!" She screamed "You better take that back right now, or I'll…"

"Hey! There's no time for that!" Max interrupted "In case you haven't noticed, we have a really tough fight on our hands here!"

"What's this? More insects?" The white-haired man said coldly, as the Giganotosaurus rose to its feet again, still showing no signs of being hurt.

"Just who are you calling insect?" Dr. Z said furiously "I'm no insect! I'm the Dinosaur King!"

"Dinosaur King?" The man said, now in an obviously sarcastic voice "Is that supposed to be a joke? You don't look like you could be the king of anything to me, except maybe the king cockroaches."

"I'll teach you to make fun of me!" Dr. Z growled.

"Hey, be careful, you guys!" Rex warned "This guy's tough! And I mean _really_ tough!"

"We're way ahead of you, young man!" Dr. Z replied with a confident grin "Look what I've got here!" He said and held up a case that Max almost immediately recognized.

"Our DinoTectors!" He said excitedly.

"Indeed, but seeing as how your dinosaurs aren't able to do much fighting right now, I guess it's the Alpha Gangs time to shine!" He said as he opened the case and threw the purple and blue boosters to Ed and Zander, as he himself took the red one.

"Element Booster! DinoTector On!" They all cried in unison as they inserted the boosters into their Alpha Scanners. Terry, Spiny and Tank all appeared in their armours, ready to fight.

"Let's teach this brat what happens when you mess with the Alpha Gang! Ultimate Fire!" He called.

"Ultimate Earth!" Called Ed.

"Ultimate Water!" Called Zander.

Terry rushed at the Giganotosaurus, enveloped in intense flames, slamming into it. The Giganotosaurus staggered from the impact as Tank, surrounded by purple crystals, rammed into it and sent it crashing to the ground. Spiny then quickly charged at it, surrounded by a veil of water, and slammed into it, sending a cascade of water and debris into the air as the Giganotosaurus was sent crashing into a nearby building.

"How was that?" Dr. Z said with a confident look on his face.

"Not bad…But nowhere near good enough." The white-haired man said with an evil grin.

"W-What? Impossible!" Dr. Z said in disbelief, as the Giganotosaurus rose to its feet yet again. It was clear that the attacks had had some effect on it this time, but it was still far from defeated.

"I guess it's my turn now to teach you insects what happens when you mess with me" The man said coldly "Go! Dark Inferno!" He called as he swiped yet another card along the blade of his sword.

The Giganotosaurus suddenly seemed to be enveloped by pitch-black flames, and in the next second it charged at Terry, Spiny and Tank. The force of the impact was so great it sent all three of them flying towards a nearby building. No sooner had they crash landed on the ground in front of the building before the Giganotosaurus charged at them again, engulfing them with its flames and literally vaporizing the nearby building, and in the next second all three of them turned back into cards.

"Even three dinosaurs powered up with DinoTectors couldn't win…" Rex said as Dr. Z, Ed and Zander ran to get the cards back "Just how are we supposed to beat that dinosaur?"

"Maybe we can't…" Zoe said as the Giganotosaurus once again began moving towards them. But, suddenly, the Giganotosaurus vanished in a blaze of red light again.

"Now what?" Max said in surprise. He whirled around and saw that the white-haired man put the Giganotosaurus card back into his cloak.

"I have to say" He said with an evil grin "That crushing you was pretty enjoyable. And as thanks for keeping me amused, I'll let you of the hook this time around. But I'm warning you: The next time you stick your noses into my affairs, I won't be quite so nice! Goodbye!" And with those words he leapt back up onto the demolished building and then onto a nearby rooftop, and soon he was gone.

"Glad that's over…" Ed sighted as he slumped to the ground.

"No kidding" Zander said "I don't ever want to run into that guy again…"

"It's not over." Max said, and everyone looked surprised at him "We have to follow that guy! We've got to stop him!" They all stared in shock.

"Um, that guy just squashed us like little bugs, and you say you think we should follow him?" Ursula said in disbelief "Are you really feeling well?"

"Yeah, Max" Zoe said "None of our dinosaurs stood a chance against him, so what could we possibly do?"

"I agree" Rex said "Trying to fight that guy would be like suicide; we wouldn't be able to do anything!"

"I know" Max said "But we're the only ones who can fight him, so if we don't stop him, who will?" Rex and Zoe looked at him.

"Well…I guess you've got a point, but still…" Zoe started.

"Okay, then lets get to it!" Max said, about to run of.

"Hold on!" A voice suddenly called from behind him.


	9. A battle to learn

Chapter 9:

Max whirled around to see who had been calling, and the rest of the group turned around to look as well. In front of them stood a person dressed in a cloak just like the one the white-haired man they previously fought had worn; only difference was it was black instead of white, and there was no Tyrannosaurus skull-emblem on its chest...

"Who are you?" Max asked.

"One who wishes to give you some good advice: Don't follow that man. It's way too dangerous." The voice was deep, but although he couldn't see the face because of the hood, Max was pretty sure it was a man.

"What do you mean?" Max said "If he really is that dangerous, isn't that just all the more reason to…"

"If you try to stop him and fail, it will all have been for nothing." The man interrupted him "And trust me: You will fail. That man is far stronger than anyone of you. There is no way in the world you could defeat him the way you are now." Max just stood there silent.

"Wait a minute" Zoe said "How do you know that?"

"Yeah. And how come you're warning us?" Rex asked the man "Is it to protect us?" The man turned to Rex and Zoe.

"The reason I'm warning you is simply because I can't let you fight that man." He replied.

"But why not?" Max said.

"I already told you: You can't beat him yet. His strength is far beyond yours. You haven't reached far enough." The man replied.

"Hey! How come you know so much about that guy from earlier?" Dr. Z suddenly said "It couldn't possibly be that you're his friend, and you just want to protect him from us?" He said suspiciously. The man turned towards him.

"Seeing how easily he defeated you, do you really believe he would need someone else to protect him?" He said, completely calm.

"Um, maybe not…" Dr. Z murmured.

"Since he's apparently trying to protect us, I don't think he's a bad guy…" Rex said slowly "But what I don't really understand is what you mean when you're saying we can't beat him _the way we are now_?" He asked the man.

"And what do you mean by saying that we haven't _reached far enough_?" Zoe asked.

The man didn't answer, but turned around and started walking away from them.

"Hey, wait!" Max called after him "You have to tell…"

"Come. I'll show you." The man said without turning around.

* * *

><p>Max hesitated. What should they do? Could they really trust the man? What if it was a trap? Suddenly Chomp bit Max's arm, as if trying to get his attention. Max looked down at Chomp, and as their eyes met Max felt it like he was trying to tell him to do what the man said.<p>

"Are you sure?" Max asked him. Chomp gave Max another look that all too clearly told him that he was sure. Max smiled at him before pushing a button on his DinoBracer, returning Chomp to his card.

"All right! Let's go guys!" He said to Rex and Zoe. They both gave him a hesitant look.

"Are you sure?" Zoe said uncertainly.

"Chomp definitely trusts him, and if he can, so can we!" Max said. No sooner had he said it before Ace and Paris began moving around in Rex's and Zoe's arms, and as they looked at them, they could see it in their eyes that they wanted them to follow the man to.

"Looks like they agree!" Max said.

"Okay, Ace, I believe in you." Rex said as he returned Ace to his card.

"Guess it's the best we can do…" Zoe said as she did the same with Paris.

"Very well, let's go!" Max said, and three of them quickly followed the man.

"Do we have to follow him, to?" Ed asked.

"Of course not!" Dr. Z said impatiently "This is their thing, not ours! We're going back home! I need to figure something out to beat that rude little brat from earlier…"

"But what if that guy really is one of the villains?" Zander said "And what if he does something to the kids?"

"So what? Then it's their fault for trusting him in the first place!" Dr. Z snapped.

"Maybe, but if something does happen to them, what do you think Dr. Ancient will say when he finds out we just left them unsupervised?" Ursula said.

"Not to mention what's going to happen when he tells Helga about it…" Zander added.

"And…" Ed started.

"All right! All right! I get the point!" Dr. Z yelled "I guess we'll follow him to…" And they hurried after Max, Rex, Zoe and the man.

* * *

><p>"This will do." The man said as he finally stopped. Max looked around. They where standing on a large, open plain, far away from the city, outlined by trees, bushes and larges rocks.<p>

"For what?" He asked the man.

"For our battle." The man replied. They all stared at him in shock.

"Battle?" Zoe said incredulously "But I thought you said…"

"Don't get me wrong." The man said calmly "But what I intend to show you is more easily understood by letting our dinosaurs do battle with each other." They looked at each other.

"I don't know…" Zoe murmured.

"Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea after all…" Rex said.

"Aww, come on, guys!" Max said impatiently, and they both looked at him "We won't know if it's a good idea or not unless we try!"

"I'm not demanding anything." The man said "I'm simply presenting you the option in order for you to learn..." Rex and Zoe once again looked at Max. There was no hesitation in his eyes, and soon they decided to trust him.

"All right, then." Zoe said.

"You're right, Max." Rex said.

"Then let's go!" Max said. Rex and Zoe nodded.

"Dino Slash!" They all cried in unison.

"Triceratops! Roar!" Max cried.

"Carnotaurus, blow them away!" Rex cried.

"Spring up, Parasaurolophus!" Zoe cried.

Chomp, Ace and Paris all appeared in their full forms in front of them, ready to fight.

"So what dinosaur are you going to use?" Max asked the man.

"This will be your opponent." The man replied and pulled out a card from his cloak. The card showed a picture of a rather small dinosaur, obviously a carnivore, and as Max gazed upon the card he noticed that it was sparkling in rainbow colour, meaning this dinosaur had to be of the secret attribute, but he wasn't sure what species it was…

He gave up on guessing what kind of dinosaur it was when the man suddenly pulled out what looked very much like the DinoHolders they had used way back when travelling the world, only this one was white rather than grey, and where the stones usually where placed in their DinoHolders, there was a mark which Max recognized as the kanji for "light"…

"Very well. Let's get started!" The man said "Dino Slash!" He called "Come on! Nanotyrannus!" The dinosaur appeared in a blaze of light and let out a hissing growl. Its skull was quite narrow and the mouth was full of sharp, blade-like teeth. It had pretty short arms, but its hind legs where pretty long and slender. Its body was covered in greenish scales with a black zigzag-pattern running down its neck and back, and with black markings on its hind legs and tail. The dinosaur's scales also gave of a rainbow-coloured sparkle, meaning it was indeed a secret attribute dinosaur. The three of them looked at it in amazement.

"What kind of dinosaur is that?" Zoe asked.

"From what I know there isn't very much that's actually known about the Nanotyrannus, other than that when it was first excavated it was believed to be a juvenile Tyrannosaurus" Rex replied "Also, from what I've heard there's been quite the twist about whether that's true or not, but that's all."

"Yeah, well, right now what we have to focus on is fighting it!" Max said.

"Indeed." The mysterious man said "So let's begin. I'll let you make the first move."

"Um, okay…" Max said, slightly surprised that the man was willing to give them such a chance, but he quickly got over it. "Let's do this, Chomp! Thunder Bazooka!" He called, swiping the card. Chomp rushed towards the Nanotyrannus and jumped into the air and at the same time he started rotation quickly as lightning began to envelop him. But when he was just inches away from the Nanotyrannus it quickly jumped out of the way, causing Chomp to crash into a boulder, which immediately shattered as he hit it.

"Whoa! That dinosaur's fast!" Max said as Chomp shook himself and turned to face the Nanotyrannus again, obviously still rearing to go.

"Let's try that again, Chomp! Lightning Spear" He called as he swiped the card.

Chomp rushed towards the Nanotyrannus again, but even this time it dodged the attack at the last second, making Chomp hit another boulder, which was pierced by the Lightning Spear-attack.

"Shining Fang!" The man suddenly called, much to Max's surprise. The Nanotyrannus quickly rushed at Chomp from behind, its jaws wide open and its teeth suddenly shining with an intense light. Before Chomp was able to turn around, the Nanotyrannus had jumped onto his back and started biting him in the neck behind his frill, causing a bright light to erupt every time it bit into him. Chomp, roaring in pain, desperately tried to shake it of, but the Nanotyrannus stayed on by grabbing onto his back with its foot claws, refusing to let go.

"Oh no, Chomp can't take much more of this!" Max said desperately.

"Don't worry, Max, I got you covered!" Rex said "Let's go, Ace!" Ace quickly rushed towards Chomp and managed to grab a hold of the Nanotyrannus's tail with his mouth and it immediately stopped biting Chomp. It managed to pull its tail out of Ace's mouth and jumped off of Chomp's back as he slumped to the ground, now standing face to face with Ace.

"Way to go, Ace! Now, Ninja Attack!" He called and swiped the card. Ace split up into multiple Carnotaurus and started attacking the Nanotyrannus. It easily dodged the first Carnotaurus strike, but it didn't manage to avoid the strike that followed, and the attack was quickly followed by many more, and the damage caused by the simultaneous hits caused it to fall to the ground. Meanwhile Max and Zoe ran up to Chomp, who was still down from the Nanotyrannus's attack.

"Hang in there, Chomp…" Max murmured.

"Don't worry, Max, this will help. Nature's Blessing!" Zoe called as she swiped the card. Paris sent a glowing swirl of leaves towards Chomp that quickly enveloped him, and in the next second he rose to his feet again, his power restored.

"Wow, thanks a lot, Zoe!" Max said.

"No problem, Max, now to deal with that Nanotyrannus! Go, Paris! Metal Wing!" The three Pteranodons quickly flew towards the Nanotyrannus who was still struggling to stand back up after being hit by Ace's Ninja Attack. The Pteranodons slashed it with their wings, causing it to fall down again. It was still able to stand back up, but it was clearly starting to get tired.

"We're almost there!" Rex said "Let's finish him, Max!"

"With Pleasure! Electric Charge!" Max called as he swiped the card. An electrified Chomp quickly rushed towards the Nanotyrannus, but before the attack could hit it, the Nanotyrannus vanished, forcing Chomp to stop dead.

"What now?" Max said in surprise. He quickly whirled around, and realized the man had returned the Nanotyrannus to its card.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked confused.

"You're stronger than I thought." The man said calmly "You win. I give up." Max stared at him.

"You give up?" He said incredulously "But I though you said you where going to show us…"

"Don't worry." The man said "This is just the beginning…"


	10. The new Dino Slash

Chapter 10:

"Just the beginning?" Max said, not understanding "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You will know soon enough." The man replied "Now we will battle one more time."

"But your dinosaur's all worn out" Zoe said "How are you supposed to fight like that?"

"It will be fine." The man said "But there is something I have to ask you to do before we start."

"Okay, and what would that be?" Max asked.

"That you apply your Element Boosters to your dinosaurs." The man replied. They all stared.

"Are you sure?" Rex said "No offense, but seeing as how your dinosaur already had difficulties fighting against ours, wouldn't that mean you're putting yourself at a disadvantage?"

"And if we do, seeing how it's already worn out and all, isn't there a high risk it'll get hurt?" Zoe said.

"I told you it will be fine." The man replied calmly "Can you do that?"

"Well, okay…" Max said, and turned to Dr. Z "Hey, can we get our DinoTectors?" He asked.

"Well, go ahead. Take them!" Dr. Z said, handing Max the case containing the three remaining Boosters. He took out the yellow booster while handing Rex and Zoe the bright blue and green ones. They all inserted them into their DinoBracers.

"Element Booster! DinoTector on! Go!" They all cried in unison, armouring up Chomp, Ace and Paris. The man looked at the three armoured dinosaurs now standing in front of him.

"I see…" He said "So this is your true strength. As it is right now, it is clear that I would not stand a chance against you…"

"You mean your going to give up again?" Max asked the man.

"However…" He said "Once I unlock my true strength, things will be different."

They all stared at him in surprise.

"Your true strength?" Zoe said "Just what are you talking about?"

"It sounds like he's got something up his sleeve…" Rex said "And if he's so confident he can handle our dinosaurs while we're using the DinoTector, it has to be something really special…"

"Very well, let's get back to it." The man said. Max, Rex and Zoe prepared themselves, but then they noticed the man wasn't moving.

"Hey, aren't you going to send out your dinosaur again?" Max asked confused when, suddenly, something happened: The man was suddenly glowing in a bright white light, not unlike the way him, Rex and Zoe had done back when they had first grabbed the Stone Plates and received the call for help from the dinosaurs…

The man then pulled out the Nanotyrannus card and his DinoHolder from his cloak, and suddenly the light intensified, and Max, Rex and Zoe quickly had to close their eyes. The light quickly died down, however, and as they opened their eyes again the man raised his hand to slash the card.

"Evolution Slash!" He called "Come on! Shining Crystal Nanotyrannus!"

The Nanotyrannus once again appeared in front of them, but Max immediately realized something was different about it: Rather than the rainbow-coloured sparkle they had seen before, which where standard for secret attribute dinosaurs, its body now gave of a clear, shimmering light, almost as if it had been covered by millions of tiny gem stones…

The three of them stared in amazement.

"What on earth did he just do?" Max said completely in awe.

"I've never seen anything like it…" Rex said.

"It's beautiful…" Zoe said.

Even the Alpha Gang couldn't help but staring at the new dinosaur.

"I wouldn't believe this if I didn't see it with my own eyes…" Ursula said.

"It's incredible…" Zander said.

"I agree with both of you." Ed said.

"Yeah, yeah, would you three stop acting like little kids?" Dr. Z said impatiently "As pretty as that dinosaur is it doesn't matter; there's just no way on earth it can stand up to the power of my Boosters!"

"Now let's get back to our battle." The man said "I'll let you make the first move."

"Again?" Max said uncertainly "Are you sure?"

"Go ahead." The man replied "Don't hold back. Give it all you got." Max hesitated for a while, but then he quickly sprang into action.

"Let's show him what we got then, Chomp! Ultimate Thunder!" He called, swiping the card. Lightning bolts crashed down in front of Chomp and quickly made their way towards the Nanotyrannus, hitting it square on. Chomp then quickly charged at it, whipping up a huge cloud of dust as he rammed into it.

"See, what did I tell you?" Dr. Z said to Ed, Zander and Ursula "Just one attack was enough to make that dinosaur bite the dust…!" He started when, suddenly, the dust started to clear and they saw what had happened: The Nanotyrannus and Chomp stood head to head and Chomp was struggling to push it back, but the Nanotyrannus seemed to have no problem to keep him in his place. Soon they also noticed something else: The Nanotyrannus didn't show any signs of injury from being hit by Chomp's lightning bolts!

"But then again, I could be wrong…" Dr. Z said as he stared at the two fighting dinosaurs.

"No way!" Max shouted in shock.

"Now! Strike him down!" The man called. The Nanotyrannus quickly spun around, hitting Chomp with its tail, sending him crashing into a nearby groove of trees. Max couldn't believe it. They where using their DinoTectors and still that dinosaur seemed unfazed. How could it be so powerful all of a sudden?

"Looks like Chomp's in trouble; we better help out, Zoe!" Rex said and Zoe nodded.

"Let's go, Ace! Ultimate Wind!" Rex called as he swiped the card. Ace rushed towards the Nanotyrannus as powerful winds surrounded him. When he was just a few metres away from it, however, the Nanotyrannus suddenly charged at Ace, causing the wind to disperse and Ace was sent reeling backwards as it slammed into him, and with a quick blow from the Nanotyrannus's tail he was sent crashing to the ground.

"No, Ace! Are you okay?" Rex shouted as Ace struggled to stand up. He didn't seem hurt, but it was obvious that the Nanotyrannus's power had been quite a surprise to him.

"Guess it's our turn now, Paris! Ultimate Leaf!" Zoe called, swiping her card. Paris rushed towards the Nanotyrannus, enveloped by leaves, but before she was able to make contact the Nanotyrannus knocked her of her feet with its tail, causing her to fall to the ground. The Nanotyrannus then quickly grabbed her by the neck in its jaws and simply threw her across the plain like a rag doll, and she crash landed in front of Zoe.

"Are you all right, Paris?" Zoe cried nervously as she bent down to check if she had any injuries. Paris was able to stand back up, but she seemed quite taken aback by what just happened. Chomp had also risen to his feet now, and he joined up with Ace and Paris, now standing ready to face the Nanotyrannus.

"Let's all strike at once!" Max said "It's our only chance!"

"Got it!" Rex said.

"Let's go!" Zoe said.

"Ultimate Thunder!" Max called.

"Ultimate Wind!" Rex called.

"Ultimate Leaf!" Zoe called.

As lightning bolts started crashing down in front of Chomp, Ace and Paris rushed at the Nanotyrannus. Ace ran first, enveloped by strong winds, with Paris right behind him, enveloped by leaves. Chomp then shot forward to join them, and they all charged towards the Nanotyrannus. The mysterious man suddenly raised his hand.

"Go! Shining Crystal Sphere!" He called. The Nanotyrannus opened its jaws and immediately a white, shining orb began to form in front of it. The orb quickly began to grow, and soon it was almost twice as big as the Nanotyrannus itself. Suddenly the Nanotyrannus closed its jaws, and quickly rammed the orb with its head, sending it flying towards Chomp, Ace and Paris. The orb collided with the three charging dinosaurs, and they struggled to push it back. For a moment they stood their ground, but soon the orb slowly began to push them backwards and their attacks started to disperse. Although they tried their hardest to fight back, they started to lose ground all the faster as the orb kept pushing them backwards. Max's DinoBracer suddenly started beeping, signalling that Chomp was almost out of energy, and no sooner had he noticed before Rex's and Zoe's DinoBracers started beeping to, meaning Ace and Paris would soon run out of power as well. Max was about to call out that they had to pull them back, when suddenly the white orb vanished and Chomp, Ace and Paris slumped to the ground from exhaustion. It turned out that the mysterious man had returned the Nanotyrannus to its card again!

"Hey, what was that all about?" Max asked incredulously as he returned Chomp to his card, while Rex and Zoe did the same with Ace and Paris "You where winning, so why did you do that?" The man turned towards him.

"Because this battle wasn't about winning or losing." He replied calmly.

"What do you mean?" Max asked the man as Rex and Zoe joined up with him as well.

"Like I told you before, the reason I wished to battle you was to teach you." He said.

"Yeah, but teach us what?" Max asked impatiently.

"Wait, Max, I think I get it" Rex said "When he called out his Nanotyrannus the second time around, I don't think he used a normal Dino Slash…"

"Yeah, that's right!" Zoe said "Instead he said something like "Evolution Slash"!"

"Yeah, I heard that to, but what does it mean?" Max asked.

"Max, really…" Zoe said impatiently.

"Just as the name suggests, it's an evolved form of Dino Slash. Which, when performed correctly, allows one to summon a dinosaur several times more powerful than normal." The man calmly explained. Suddenly Max understood everything.

"So that's what you wanted to show us!" He said.

"And that's what you meant when you said that we needed to reach further, right?" Rex said.

"So if we managed to learn it, we would be able to defeat that guy with the Giganotosaurus from before?" Zoe asked.

"That's all true." The man replied "But I'm afraid it's a lot harder than it sounds…"


	11. The power inside

Chapter 11:

"What do you mean?" Max said, now eager to hear more.

"I mean that mastering the Evolution Slash takes more than simply learning it." The man said.

"Why is that?" Zoe asked. The man stood silent for a while.

"When performing the Dino Slash" He said at last "You allow the dinosaur to materialize and come to life by channelling its life force contained inside its card through an object that bears a strong connection to its living spirit."

"You mean our Stone Plates?" Rex asked.

"Yes. Since the Stones were formed by the spirits of all dinosaurs ever to live on Earth, it's quite natural that they would allow you to bring dinosaurs back to life by using the method known as Dino Slash. However" The man said "The Evolution Slash works a bit differently…"

"How so?" Max asked.

"Like I said, the Evolution Slash is an evolved, more advanced form of the ordinary Dino Slash, meant to not only bring the dinosaur in question to life, but to power it up to a much higher level than usual. This means that in order to successfully perform the Evolution Slash you need to do more than simply channel your dinosaur's life force through your Stone Plates." The man said.

"So what do we have to do in order to master it?" Zoe asked.

"I'll put it this way:" The man said "When performing the Evolution Slash you first need to reinforce the dinosaur's life force before channelling it. If you don't, the power might be too much for it to handle and the Evolution Slash will fail. Worst case you could end up hurting it seriously instead of powering it up."

"Okay…" Max said slowly "So how do you reinforce a dinosaur's life force?"

"Understanding that part is actually quite simple." The man replied "The easiest way to reinforce a dinosaur's life force is by uniting its spirit with your own. That way it will be strengthened enough to handle the power produced by the Evolution Slash. And that can only be done by those who share a close bond with the dinosaur in question, meaning your dinosaurs would be ideal for it. "

"Well, we've always shared a very close bond with them" Rex said "But how are we supposed to unite our spirits with theirs?"

"The bond you share with them allows you to understand how they feel, how they think, how they react in different situations. And that allows your hearts to basically beat as one with theirs, which is crucial in order for your sprits to unite."

"So if we use our bonds with them we will be able to unite our spirits so that we can perform the Evolution Slash?" Max asked eagerly.

"I'm afraid it's a lot more complicated than that." The man said.

"And why is that?" Zoe asked.

"Because actually uniting your spirit with another living creature's spirit is close to impossible. At least for an ordinary human." The man said.

"Okay" Max said, starting to grow impatient "If it really is impossible, how are we supposed to do it?" Once again the man didn't say anything for a while.

"There is a way to bypass that rule…" He said at last.

"And what is that?" Rex asked.

"It requires you to unlock your true inner strength to allow your spirit to unite with the one of your dinosaur." The man replied. Max, Rex and Zoe all looked at each other.

"So what is our true inner strength?" Zoe asked after a while.

"That's something I couldn't possibly tell." The man said "And that is simply because what can be referred to as ones inner strength differs greatly between people. You could see it as a kind of hidden ability. And since it is hidden, there is no way to know its true nature until it's unlocked." He finished.

"So how do you unlock it?" Max asked.

"That" The man said "Is something that can never be taught. You have to learn it on your own. Many who manage to unlock their hidden ability do so completely by accident. Others go through their whole lives without ever unlocking it."

"So that means you managed to unlock your hidden ability, right?" Rex asked the man.

"Yes. And once one manages to unlock it they will always be able to do it, regardless of how it was unlocked." The man replied. None of the said anything for a while.

"So what you're saying is that we need to find and unlock our hidden abilities in order to unite ours and our dinosaur's spirits, and then we would be able to perform the Evolution Slash?" Max said slowly.

"If you manage to do that" The man said "You will. But only then will you be able to…"

"Hold on just a minute!" Someone suddenly said from behind them, and they all turned around and saw Dr. Z standing in front of them with an irritated look on his face "All this is about defeating that brat with the Giganotosaurus from before, right? Well, since you already know that Evolution Slash-thingy, why won't you just go and take care of him yourself?" He asked the man.

The man turned towards Dr. Z, and when he spoke again there was a clear hint of sadness in his voice.

"I would do that if I only could." He said "But I'm afraid that man is even stronger than me. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to do anything against him." A long silence followed.

"But if you can't do anything against him" Zoe said at last "What could we possibly do, even if we where to learn the Evolution Slash?"

"Yeah, he beat us without even trying!" Max added "Sure, we weren't using our DinoTectors back then, but…"

"You were chosen by the Stone Plates." The man interrupted him "You were chosen to wield the power of the spirits of every dinosaur ever to walk this Earth. I have no doubt that the power slumbering inside of you far outweigh mine…" They all stared at him. Suddenly he turned around.

"I've told you all you need to know for now." He said as he started to walk away from them "It's time I take my leave."

"Hold on, wait!" Rex called after him.

"I have told you all you need to know, I said." He replied without turning around "But we will meet again."

"It's not that!" Rex said.

"Then what is it?" The man said and stopped walking.

"We still don't know your name…" Rex said.

"Oh, right." The man said and turned around "My real name is a secret. You can call me Black Crystal, or Black for short."

"Black Crystal?" Rex repeated.

"Yes. Now, until next time…" The man said and turned around and continued walking, and soon he had vanished in the distance. Once again there was a long silence.

"Well, maybe we should try to get back…" Zoe said after a while "It's getting late and everyone must be getting worried…" Max suddenly realised the sun had almost set, and the air was getting cooler. After all that had happened he ha totally lost track of time, but from the looks of thing they had probably been away for more than eight hours! He suddenly realized he was really hungry, since he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

"Yeah" He said "I totally agree with you, Zoe."

"So let's go back home then." Rex said, and the three of them started walking towards the city.

"Um, you don't mean to tell me we're going to walk all the way back?" Ursula said.

"Well, if you guys can't find a taxi or something like that, I'd say walking is the best alternative we've got…" Max replied.

"I guess it's just too much for the Old Lady…" Zoe said.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME OLD LADY!" Ursula screamed. Ed and Zander quickly grabbed a hold of her arms, and by the time they had managed to calm her down, Max, Rex and Zoe had already gone far ahead, and the three of them hurried after them.

"Hey, wait for me! I really _am_ old!" Dr. Z called as he tried to catch up.

* * *

><p>As they walked Max pulled out Chomp's card and looked at it. He sighted. It had been the first day of their summer holiday in the future, and still so incredibly much had happened…<p>

And he couldn't help but to wonder what would happen next. He looked up and saw that Rex and Zoe had taken out Ace's and Paris's cards as well. He took a deep breath.

"So what do you guys think we should do?" He asked them.

"You mean about that guy with the Giganotosaurus?" Rex asked.

"And those things about hidden abilities and the Evolution Slash that guy Black Crystal told us about?" Zoe said.

"Yeah, all of that…" Max murmured.

"Well, I don't really think there's much we can do about it right now…" Zoe said.

"Guess all we can do is to wait…" Rex said quietly.

And they all kept walking without saying anything, and as they walked into the city the sky above slowly shifted from red to dark blue and the stars started to light up. And the moon soon cast a white glow over the buildings previously destroyed by the battle…

* * *

><p>When they finally reached Rex's house they immediately spotted Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia standing on the stairs with worried looks on their faces.<p>

"Oh, Rex!" Dr. Cretacia cried as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly "We've been so worried…"

"That's saying the least" Dr. Ancient said as they all walked up the path to the house "We got really surprised when you just rushed of like that, and then we heard that a Giganotosaurus was going berserk right here in the city! We realized right away that you must have gone to investigate, but where have you been for so long?"

"It's a long story…" Max said.

"Well, I'll tell Helga to start preparing dinner" Dr. Cretacia said "Would you mind telling Marco, to? He sounded like he didn't feel so well earlier…"

Max, Rex and Zoe went to their rooms and placed their Dino Bracers and Element Boosters onto their beds, before going to Marco's room. As Max opened the door he saw Marco lying on the bed, but he quickly sat up when he realized they where there.

"Are you feeling better now?" He asked carefully.

"Yes, my head feels better now…" He said with his usual distant look "So how did things go for you?"

"Well" Max said "Where should I start…" And they told everything that had happened during the day: About the white-haired man with the Giganotosaurus and their desperate battle against him, about the mysterious Black Crystal that had battled them twice and who had told them about the Evolution Slash and their inner power…

By the time they had finished telling, Marco had a least said shocked look on his face.

"Wow…" He said "That's a whole lot to take in…"

"That's for sure..." Max said.

"But that man with the Nanotyrannus…" Marco said "Did he say his name was Black Crystal?" He asked.

"Well, that's what he told us to call him anyway" Rex said "He said that his real name was a secret so, yeah."

"Strange…" Marco said slowly "I don't know why, but for some reason it feels like I've heard that name somewhere before…"

"What do you mean?" Max asked quickly "Do you know him?"

"Maybe…" Marco said "But I just can't seem to remember where I've heard his name…"

There was a pretty long silence.

"Well, lets all go down to get some dinner." Zoe said at last "After all it's been a long day…"

"Yeah, I'm starving!" Max said and they started walking towards the door "Are you coming, Marco?"

Marco just nodded, and walked after them out of the room.

After dinner Max decided to head of to bed right away. After all that had happened during the day he felt that he needed to rest in order to fully recover and take it all in. Rex and Zoe decided to do the same thing, so they all said good night to the others and headed of to their rooms. Max walked into his room closely followed by Chomp, and he quickly changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed. For several minutes he just laid there staring at the ceiling, thinking of all that had happened: What did it all mean? Where they going to meet that man with the Giganotosaurus again? Would they be able to master the Evolution Slash that Black Crystal had taught them about, and even if they did, would they be able to beat the white-haired man? Chomp suddenly nudged Max's cheek and gave him a worried look. Max reached out his hand patted him on the head.

"Don't worry, Chomp" He said "I'm fine…Let's just sleep now…" Chomp bit Max's nose in affectionate kind of way, and then he walked up onto Max's pillow and laid down, closing his eyes. Without knowing why, Max reached for his DinoBracer and looked at it, almost as if he expected it to start beeping and signal that the Giganotosaurus was back…

But the screen where completely blank. He put it away, deciding to let it all wait till tomorrow, and closed his eyes, and within a few minutes he had fallen asleep.


	12. An old enemy returns

Chapter 12:

Max sighted as he sat down by the breakfast table along with Chomp. It had now been three days since their encounter with the mysterious man with the Giganotosaurus, and with Black Crystal. The morning right after the battle they had contacted Reese and Dr. Taylor in the present using the communicator, and told them all about what had happened. They had both been very shocked when they heard it, but they eventually understood how important it was for them to stay in the future and investigate the whole thing. They had also sworn not to tell Aki or Zoe's parents anything about it. He sighted again. Ever since the battle there had been no sign of either the white-haired man or Black Crystal, although he had said they would meet again, and he still couldn't fully understand all that Black Crystal had told them about the Evolution Slash and their inner power…

"You're up early, aren't you, Max?" Zoe said as she entered the kitchen along with Paris.

"Yeah, I thought you'd sleep at least a little longer…" Rex said as he walked after Zoe, closely followed by Ace. Max sighted again.

"It's all these things that have happened…I just can't seem to get it out of my head…" He said as they sat down by the table to eat as well. Rex and Zoe looked at each other.

"Yeah, I see what you mean…" Zoe said quietly.

"I'm not surprised" Rex said "It's not exactly a little thing…" Max was just about to say something when someone entered the kitchen. It was Marco. He made his way towards the table and slumped into one of the chairs. Max was slightly surprised to see him: Ever since they had talked to him after their battles with the mysterious man and Black Crystal, he had locked himself up in his room all the time. As Max looked at him he saw that he really didn't look well: He was very pale, and he also had dark shades under his eyes.

"Hey, Marco, are you okay?" Zoe asked him in a worried tone "You don't look so good…"

"It's my head again…" He murmured "It's been aching all night…I haven't been able to sleep one bit…" He said while clutching his head slightly. Paris looked up from her bowl of food and walked over to Marco, starting to rub her head against his leg. Marco smiled a bit and patted the little Parasaurolophus's head.

"No need to worry…" He said "I'm sure it's nothing serious…" Max hesitated for a second.

"Maybe this is a bad time…" He said "But do you still not remember anything about where you've heard that guy Black Crystal's name?" Marco looked at him.

"Sorry, no." He replied.

"Don't say you're sorry" Rex said to him "It's not your fault you can't remember…" He started when, suddenly, his DinoBracer started beeping.

"Hey guys! It's another Dinosaur Signal!" Max cried as his and Zoe's DinoBracers started beeping as well.

"Where's it coming from?" Zoe said as she looked at the screen.

"It's…It's from the same place as we fought that Giganotosaurus!" Rex said as he gazed upon the dot on the screen.

"You don't think it could be that white-haired guy again?" Zoe asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Max said as he rose from his chair "We have to get over there fast!"

Rex and Zoe nodded and quickly rose from the table. Marco rose as well, still clutching his head.

"Well..." He said "I really need to try getting some sleep…My head's killing me…Good luck..." And he walked out of the kitchen.

"Okay, let's go guys!" Max said as he turned towards the door, but as he was about to run of he almost crashed into Jonathan who had just walked into the kitchen.

"Max?" He said "What's going on?"

"We can't explain now, Jonathan!" Rex said "Another dinosaur just appeared here in the city, and we have to stop it!" Jonathan looked as if he was about to say something to stop them, but then he seemed to change his mind.

"Very well" He said "Just make sure you're careful."

"Sure!" Max said as he ran past him closely followed be Chomp.

"Do you think you could tell Dr. Z and the Alpha Gang about it?" Rex asked Jonathan "We might need reinforcements!"

"I will, master Rex." He replied.

"Thanks, Jonathan!" Rex said " Let's go, Zoe!" Zoe nodded and the two of them ran after Max and Chomp, closely followed by Ace and Paris.

* * *

><p>Max rushed trough the city with Rex and Zoe right behind him. Since he had ran this path three days ago, he was now a bit more familiar with the city, so he was at least sure he was going the right way. As the three of them closed in on the location the DinoBracer had picked up, they suddenly heard a loud noise, and as they turned around the corner they stopped dead:<p>

Not one, but three dinosaurs was running rampant, attacking the nearby buildings. One of them looked very much like Terry, only difference was it was yellow rather than red, with a red pattern running down from its head to its tail, and it was slightly smaller. The other one was a porcupine-like dinosaur with a grey underside and a green back covered in bony knobbles, with large spines jutting out from above its shoulders. The third one looked a bit like Chomp, but its horns where shorter and its frill was square rather than rounded, and its body was green instead of yellow, with black and white patterns on its legs and frill.

"What kind of dinosaurs is that?" Zoe asked as she gazed upon them "I'm pretty sure that first one is a Tarbosaurus…"

"Yeah, it is" Rex said "And the other one is a Sauropelta and the third one is a Chasmosaurus!"

"Yeah" Max said "And it looks like they're here to cause trouble, so let's stop them right away!" Both Rex and Zoe nodded, and they all called back their dinosaurs to their cards.

"Dino Slash!" They cried in unison, swiping the cards.

"Triceratops, roar!" Max cried.

"Carnotaurus, blow them away!" Rex cried.

"Spring up, Parasaurolophus!" Zoe cried.

The same moment Chomp, Ace and Paris appeared in their full forms, the Tarbosaurus, Sauropelta and Chasmosaurus turned around, and now they stood face to face.

"All right, let's do this, Chomp!" Max called and was about to swipe his Move Card.

"Not you three again!" A voice suddenly called from behind them. They all whirled around and saw a figure wearing a white cloak with a Tyrannosaurs-skull emblem on its chest standing in front of them. The figure raised its hands to remove the hood of the cloak, revealing the face of a man with white, long hair and dark cold eyes.

"You!" Zoe said angrily.

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of my way?" The man said coldly.

"Oh, yeah, like we're just going to stand and watch when you're attacking the city again!" Max said through gritted teeth. The man gave him a cold stare.

"Well, well, whatever are you talking about?" He said.

"Don't play dumb with us!" Max said and pointed towards the three dinosaurs in front of Chomp, Ace and Paris. The man looked at the dinosaurs in front of him.

"There must have been some sort of misunderstanding…" He said coldly "Those dinosaurs appearing here has nothing to do with me."

"Liar!" Rex said.

"As much as I love lies, what he tells you isn't a lie!" A voice suddenly called.

"Who's there?" Max cried as he looked around him to see who had spoken. He couldn't help but feeling that there was something about that voice that sounded familiar…

"Surprise, surprise!" The voice called again, and in the next second something swooped down from the sky and landed in front of them. It was a pale-skinned woman with black hair and wings.

"Sheer!" Max cried out in shock "What are you doing here!"

"It's not just her!" Another voice suddenly called. And in the next second two more winged figures swooped down and landed in front of them. One of them was very muscular with red skin and short hair. The other one was pretty skinny with spiky, blue hair.

"Gavro! Foolscap!" Zoe cried in shock.

"That's right!" Foolscap said with an evil grin "To think we would run into you again!"

"And you better believe it won't be funny!" Gavro said.

"How can you guys be here?" Rex called in disbelief "I thought we sent you away during that last battle!"

"That's true, but thanks to our new friend here we're back!" Sheer said and nodded towards the white-haired man. He gave them all a fiendish smile.

"So you're working for him now?" Max said through gritted teeth.

"Let's just say we're doing him a little favour for helping us out!" Foolscap replied.

"So that's how those three dinosaurs got here…" Zoe said.

"Funny you should mention them, because your about to get to know them really well!" Sheer said "Go, Chasmosaurs! Crush these brats!" The Chasmosaurus suddenly charged at Chomp, Ace and Paris.

"Not so fast!" Max said "Get them, Chomp!" Chomp rushed forwards and collided with the charging Chasmosaurs. The two of them struggled for a while, but it looked like Chomp had the advantage.

"Let's see how you do against my Spectral Armor!" Sheer smirked and placed a card to her necklace. In the next second the Chasmosaurus was covered in purple pieces of armour with pink spikes jutting out from it. It immediately lifted Chomp up onto his head, and flung him into the air, sending him crashing to the ground.

"And there's more where that came from! Come on, Sauropelta!" Foolscap called and put a card to his headband, and in the next second it was wrapped in the armour as well.

"That's right! Let's smash them, Tarbosaurus!" Gavro said and put a card to his chest, equipping it with Spectral Armor to.

"Oh, yeah? Well don't think it'll be that easy!" Max said "Let's go guys!" He said to Rex and Zoe who nodded.

"Element Booster! DinoTector on! Go!" They all cried in unison. Chomp, Ace and Paris all appeared in their armours, ready to battle.

"Let's go, Chomp, Lightning Strike!" Max called as he swiped the card. Chomp shot a burst of lightning from his horns towards the Chasmosaurus. The blast caused it to fall down on the ground, shivering from the shock.

"Nice one, Max!" Rex called "Let's get them, Ace!"

"You to, Paris!" Zoe called. Ace and Paris both rushed towards the Tarbosaurus and the Sauropelta.

"Let's see how you like Fire Bomb!" Gavro said and placed a card to his chest. Intense flames erupted from the Tarbosaurus's mouth and it jumped up into the air and dove right towards Paris.

"And there's more! Like Atomic Bomb!" Foolscap said as he placed the card to his headband. The Sauropelta jumped into the air and started to glow as it rolled up into a ball, heading straight for Ace.

"Get out of the way, Paris!" Zoe cried. The Tarbosaurus crashed down, and the ensuing explosion caused stones and concrete to fly in all directions, but Paris was able to dodge the attack and escape unharmed. At the same time the Sauropelta crashed down, but Ace jumped out of the way, causing it to hit the ground instead.

"Way to go!" Rex cried "Let's go, Ace! Ultimate Wind!" He called as he swiped the card.

"Let's finish these creeps, Paris! Ultimate Leaf!" Zoe called, swiping her card as well.

Ace rushed towards the Sauropelta, enveloped by strong winds, and slammed right into it, sending it crashing into a nearby building. At the same time Paris, enveloped by leaves, slammed into the Tarbosaurus, sending it crashing into the Sauropelta as it crashed into the building, and in a flash of light they both turned back into cards.

"Oh yeah! Two down and only one left! Let's go, Chomp! Ultimate Thunder!" Max called and swiped the card. Lightning bolts struck down in front of him and quickly made their way towards the Chasmosaurus. As the bolts hit it, Chomp charged towards the Chasmosaurus, slamming right into it and sending it crashing to the ground, and in the next second it turned back into a card.

"Nice work, guys!" Max called and picked up the Chasmosaurs's card, while Rex and Zoe picked up the Sauropelta's and Tarbosaurus's cards "Looks like you came up short again!" He called towards the Space Pirates.

"Is that so?" Sheer said with an evil smirk "I still have a card up my sleeve. Isn't that right, Maximus?" She said as she placed the card to her necklace.

"And she's not the only one! Come on out, Armatus!" Foolscap said as he placed the card to his headband.

"And here's one more! Smash them, Gigas!" Gavro said as he placed the card to his chest.

And in a flash of light all three of the Spectral Dinosaurs appeared in front of them. Max stared in shock.

"But how?" He said in disbelief "Didn't you lose them when we beat you back then?"

"Well, life's full of the unexpected!" Sheer replied "And now you're going to pay for what you did to us!"

"Yeah, thanks to you we where stuck in that Space capsule for a whole year, forced to listen to Spectre's off-key singing all the time!" Foolscap said.

"Um, Spectre won't be happy if he finds out you said that." Gavro said to him.

"So what?" Foolscap snapped "I'm just saying as it is!"

"Yeah, well so am I." Gavro replied.

"Dream on, you don't even know what "as it is" means!" Foolscap said.

"Yes I do!" Gavro said.

"No you don't!" Foolscap said. Sheer just sighted.

"Don't even tell me…" Zoe said and turned towards the white-haired man "You're the one who got them back for them, aren't you?" The man gave her a cold stare.

"Well, it looks like my job here is done…" He said and turned around "So I'll leave you alone so you can play in peace." And in the next second he jumped onto a nearby building and disappeared.

"Hey, you!" Max called after the man "Get back here!"

"Do you really think this is a good time to look the other way?" Sheer smirked "Go get them, Maximus!" The Spectral Triceratops suddenly charged at Paris, sending her crashing to the ground, and started jabbing her with its horns.

"No! Paris!" Zoe cried, as Paris tried to keep the Spectral Triceratops away, but couldn't.

"Let's finish this!" Sheer said "Spectral Punisher!" The Spectral Triceratops stepped back as its horns started to glow and long spikes jutted out from them, and in the next second it fired an intense beam from its horns towards Paris.

"Paris, look out! Get out of there!" Zoe cried, but Paris was still struggling to stand up after the first attack, so she had no chance to get away. But suddenly something white came flying from behind her, smashing into the beam, and the ensuing explosion caused it to disperse before hitting Paris. Zoe looked around in amazement.

"What was…?" She started when, suddenly, something rushed past her, ramming into the Spectral Triceratops, sending it skidding backwards. It was a green and black dinosaur, with scales glowing like crystals…

"Nanotyrannus?" Max said "But that means…"

"Looks like I made it in time." A voice said from behind them. They all turned around and saw a figure dressed in a black cloak standing in front of them.


	13. Name of the enemy

Chapter 13:

"Black Crystal!" Rex cried "Great timing!"

"Huh? Who are you?" Sheer said as she looked at him in surprise. He didn't answer, but instead turned towards Zoe and Paris.

"Are you two all right?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks to you…" Zoe replied as Paris rose to her feet again "Thanks a lot!"

"Hey! I asked you a question!" Sheer called angrily "Answer! Just who are you?" But he still acted like he hadn't heard her.

"Well, if he doesn't want to tell us who he is, let's just smash him to bits and get him out of the way!" Gavro said "Go, Gigas! Spectral Lancer!" The Spectral Tyrannosaurus roared as large, spear-like spikes jutted out from the spikes of its armour. It then started running towards Black Crystal.

"Look out!" Zoe cried to Black Crystal, but he simply turned around, raising his hand.

"Shining Crystal Sphere!" He called. The Nanotyrannus quickly ran up in front of him with its jaws wide open as a bright, white orb started to form in front of it. When The Spectral Tyrannosaurus was just a few metres away, the Nanotyrannus quickly rammed the orb with its head and sent it flying towards the charging dinosaur. The Spectral Tyrannosaurus ran right into the orb, but was almost instantly forced to stop as the orb prevented it from going any further. In the next second the orb began to push it backwards, and the lances dispersed as the orb suddenly exploded in a blaze of white light, sending it flying backwards and it crashed into a nearby building.

"Huh?" Gavro said as the Spectral Tyrannosaurus struggled to stand back up.

"Looks like he's tougher than he looks." Sheer said as she looked from Black Crystal to the Nanotyrannus.

"Well, he's not the only one! Armatus! Spectral Stinger!" Foolscap called. Large spikes suddenly jutted out from the Spectral Stegosaurus's back, and in the next second it fired a barrage of needles towards the Nanotyrannus.

Black Crystal didn't move, but simply raised his hand again, apparently to tell the Nanotyrannus what it should do. It seemed like it understood, as it quickly began to run in zigzag, easily dodging the needles. Then it quickly rushed at the Spectral Stegosaurus, ramming it in the side of its body, causing it to fall to the ground.

"Why you…" Foolscap growled as the Spectral Stegosaurus desperately tried to rise again.

"Way to go! Nice shot!" Max called, and then he turned to Rex and Zoe "Come on, guys! If he's helping us we can beat those creeps!" Rex and Zoe nodded.

"No." Black Crystal said. They all stared at him.

"W-What do you mean "no"?" Max asked incredulously.

"I will deal with these three myself; you must focus on finding the one that brought them here." He replied.

"But…" Zoe started, but Black Crystal interrupted her, and when he spoke again his voice suddenly sounded stern and serious.

"You heard me." He said "Just go!"

"Are you sure about that?" Zoe said "What if…"

"You must not let them fool you!" Black Crystal said "As powerful as these three may be, they are still nothing but pawns of the true enemy."

"The true enemy?" Max said "What's that supposed to mean?"

"From what I have been able to find, they are a sinister group of powerful dinosaur-users calling themselves The Ancient Emperors." Black Crystal replied "And from the looks of things, it would appear they found these three and are now using them for their own evil ends."

"The Ancient Emperors?" Max repeated.

"Hold on now" Zoe said doubtfully "How do you know that?" Black Crystal turned towards her.

"Ever since I left you after our battle three days ago, I have been doing a lot of investigation of the event that took place in the city, and it eventually led me to a closer realization of the actual danger that lies ahead: The danger known as The Ancient Emperors." He replied. They all looked at him.

"So what is it they're trying to do?" Rex asked "Are they planning to use their dinosaurs to take over the world? Or is it something even bigger than that?"

"I wish I had the answers, but as much as I have searched, their true motive has remained hidden from me." Black Crystal replied "But one thing can be said for certain: Their intents are anything but good."

They all looked at him again.

"Hey!" Max suddenly said "Does that mean that white-haired guy, the one you stopped us from following back then, is one of them?" He asked.

"Yes." Black Crystal replied "And the reason I stopped you from following him back then was that I didn't want you to risk anything until I knew more of their plans, but now it would appear they have started to make their first move, so…" He started when, suddenly, there was a loud roar and the Nanotyrannus suddenly fell down on the ground in front of them. I turned out it had been hit by one of Maximus's Spectral Punisher-attacks, and it was struggling to stand back up.

"That's what happens when you don't pay attention!" Sheer said tauntingly.

"Is he going to be okay?" Zoe asked worriedly as Black Crystal hurried up to the fallen dinosaur.

"I think so." He replied as the Nanotyrannus stood back up "But it looks like I can not afford to drop my guard…"

"In that case" Max said and turned to Rex and Zoe "You two should stay here and help him out. I'm going after that guy on my own!" Rex and Zoe stared at him in shock.

"Don't be silly, Max!" Zoe said "You can't possibly mean to go after that guy all by yourself!"

"Yeah, don't you remember what happened last time?" Rex said "He beat us all as if it was nothing. And none of us has learned how to do the Evolution Slash, since we haven't figured out how to use our inner power yet, so the chances of you actually beating him are basically one in a billion!"

"But I…" Max said, clenching his fist.

"Yes, I can agree to that plan." Black Crystal suddenly said. Rex and Zoe stared at him.

"If you truly believe you can do it, then go. I will stay here with your friends and stop these three." He said to Max who nodded. "But don't forget" He said, now sounding stern and serious again "That this will be the most difficult battle you have ever fought up till now. The enemy you are about to face has power far beyond anything you can possibly imagine. If you wish to win, you must believe in your own power with all your might and all of you heart. Only then can you defeat him." Max gave him a determined look.

"I'll give it all that I've got!" He said "I won't let those Emperor-creeps have their way!"

Black Crystal nodded and placed a hand on Max's shoulder, and then he turned around to face the three Spectral Dinosaurs "Now go!" He said. Max nodded and called Chomp back to his card. Then he turned around and started running in the same direction the white-haired man had disappeared in, but suddenly Gavro swooped down in front of him, blocking his way.

"Who said you could go anywhere?" He said. Max took a step back with gritted teeth.

Black Crystal once again raised his hand, and in the next second the Nanotyrannus rushed up in front of Max and bared its teeth at Gavro, who quickly flew back up in the air to get away from it.

"Thanks for the help!" Max called back at him as he ran down the street.

"Hey! Don't let him get away!" Sheer called to Foolscap, and they both flew towards Max, but Ace and Paris quickly blocked their way, forcing them back as well.

"Looks like if you want to get to Max, you'll have to get through us first!" Rex said as Ace, Paris and the Nanotyrannus joined up with him, Zoe and Black Crystal. The three of them now stood face to face with the three pirates and their dinosaurs, ready for battle.

"Let's go!" They all cried in unison.

* * *

><p>Max ran as fast as he could through the city while looking wildly around him for a glimpse of the white-haired man. He was just wondering how far the man could have gotten when, suddenly, he saw something in the corner of his eye and stopped. He was sure he had seen a glimpse of something white on top of a nearby building, and in the next second whatever it had been suddenly jumped of the building and landed on the ground not thirty feet away from him with its back turned. It was a figure dressed in a white cloak, and as it removed the hood of the cloak from its face he could clearly see that it had long, white hair!<p>

"Hey! Hold it right there!" Max called. The man whirled around and looked right a Max with his dark, cold eyes.

"You again?" He said coldly "What are you doing here?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Max said angrily "I'm here to stop you!" The man gave him another cold stare.

"You?" He said in a mocking voice "A weak, pathetic insect like you is going to stop me?"

"That's right!" Max replied "I'm not going to let you Ancient Emperors or whatever have your evil ways!" The mans eyes suddenly widened, and when he spoke again his voice sounded even colder than before.

"How do you know that name?" He hissed threateningly.

"Yeah, like I'd tell you that!" Max replied. The man gave him a cold stare.

"Since you were so foolish that you came after me all on your own, I was planning to let you of easily this time to" He said coldly "But seeing as you know too much, that has changed. You give me no choice but to get you out of the way for good!" He said as he pulled out his sword from his belt. He held the sword in front of him as he pulled out a card from his cloak, and swiped it along the blade of his sword.

"Destroy him, Giganotosaurus!" He called, and in a blaze of red light the Giganotosaurus appeared, and roared as it towered over Max.

"This is it, Chomp!" Max said as he pulled out Chomp's card "So let's do it! Dino Slash! Triceratops, roar!" He cried, slashing the card. Chomp appeared in his full form, now standing face to face with the Giganotosaurus.

"How pathetic…" The man said while smirking evilly at Max.

"Let's go, Chomp! Thunder Bazooka!" Max called, swiping the card. Chomp rushed towards the Giganotosaurus, jumping into the air and started rotating as lightning started to build up around him. In the next second he slammed right into the centre of the Giganotosaurus's body, but just like last time it just shook it of like nothing had happened!

"When will you learn?" The man said "You can't defeat me."

"Oh yeah?" Max said through gritted teeth "Let's see how you like this! Element Booster! DinoTector on! Go!" He called, armouring up Chomp.

"Such foolishness. I almost feel sorry for you…" The man said mockingly as the Giganotosaurus towered over Chomp.


	14. A desperate struggle

Chapter 14:

"Ultimate Wind!" Called Rex, swiping the card.

"Ultimate Leaf!" Called Zoe, swiping her card as well.

Both Ace and Paris charged at Gigas, slamming right into him and sending him staggering backwards. The Spectral Tyrannosaurus had no time to respond to their attack, as in the next second the Nanotyrannus fired another bright orb towards it, hitting it square on. The blast caused the Spectral Tyrannosaurus to crash to the ground, and it turned back into a card.

Rex clenched his fist in triumph and Zoe nodded at him.

"It's still too late for you to celebrate! Spectral Stinger!" Foolscap called. The Spectral Stegosaurus once again fired a barrage of needles towards the three dinosaurs. Black Crystal once again raised his hand, and the Nanotyrannus quickly rushed up in front of Ace and Paris, blocking the needles by swiftly hitting them with its tail, causing them to fall to the ground before they got a chance to hit Ace or Paris. The Three dinosaurs then charged at the Spectral Stegosaurus, all ramming into its side at the same time, causing it to fall crashing to the ground, and in the next second it turned back into a card.

"Two down…" Rex said.

"One left." Zoe said, as they both turned their attention to Sheer and Maximus.

"Don't think you'll get me as easily as those two!" Sheer growled "Take them down, Maximus! Spectral Punisher!" She called. Sharp spikes jutted out from the ends of the Spectral Triceratops's horns, and it quickly fired an intense beam towards them. Ace and Paris quickly jumped out of the way as the Nanotyrannus fired yet another white orb towards the Spectral Triceratops. The orb and the beam collided in mid-air and for a short while they seemed to struggle to push each other back, but in the next second the force of the orb caused the beam to disperse, and it hit the Spectral Triceratops square on, making it fall down on the ground, turning it back into a card.

"We did it!" Zoe cried triumphantly "We won!"

"Yeah, good job, Ace!" Rex said as he returned Ace to his card, then slashing it again to make Ace appear in his small form. Zoe quickly did the same.

"Don't think for a second this is over!" Sheer said furiously as she picked up Maximus's card from the ground "We'll be back!"

"Yeah, and once we are you're going to be very sorry!" Foolscap said as he and Gavro went to get their cards back as well.

"Oh yeah? It was bad enough just to meet you bird-brains again, thank you very much!" Zoe said, sticking out her tongue at them.

"Grr! I'll remember that!" Sheer said as she took of from the ground, quickly followed by the other two "You can count on it!"

"Hey, who do you think that masquerade-guy was, anyway?" Gavro said as they flew of.

"Who cares?" Foolscap said "But now that I think about it, it sure looked like him and those brats knew each other…"

"Let's save that question for later." Sheer said "Like, till when we're far away from here!"

"Good idea." Gavro said, and soon they were all out of sight.

* * *

><p>Rex and Zoe both followed the three pirates with their eyes until they were out of sight. Then they quickly turned to each other.<p>

"There's no time to waste!" Rex said "We have to go help Max out!" Zoe nodded and they both prepared to run of after him.

"You will do nothing of the sort." Black Crystal said as he returned the Nanotyrannus to its card and put it back in his cloak. They both stared at him.

"What are you talking about?" Zoe said impatiently "We have to go! He might need our help!"

"Even if that is the case, you must both stay here." He replied "There is nothing you can do to help him."

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Rex shouted. Black Crystal turned towards him.

"You said it yourself." He said "None of you have mastered the Evolution Slash since you haven't unlocked your hidden power yet, so the chances of you defeating this enemy are slim to none." He finished.

"So what you're saying is that you knew all along Max wouldn't stand a chance, and still you let him go?" Zoe asked angrily "So you basically sent him to his own doom!" Black Crystal turned to her, and when he spoke again there was a clear hint of sadness in his voice.

"It was his own decision, not mine." He said "I strongly doubt he would have allowed me to stop him even if I had tried to. His own brave heart made him take the decision to take on the enemy on his own. Not for his own sake, but for yours. If you truly are his friends I'm pretty sure you can understand just how he must have felt…" Zoe's anger died away, and she felt a wave of sadness well up inside her. It was true, and she knew it: Max had wanted to fight the white-haired man alone so that they wouldn't risk getting hurt. She slumped down on her knees while desperately fighting her tears…

"So…What are we going to do?" Rex asked quietly.

"There is only one thing we can do right now…" Black Crystal said as they all looked in the direction Max had gone "We will simply have to wait here and hope for the best…And be prepared for the worst…"

* * *

><p>"Ultimate Thunder!" Max called, swiping the card. Lightning bolts struck down in front of Chomp and quickly made their way towards the Giganotosaurus. The lightning scored a direct hit, but it still didn't seem to feel anything. Chomp then charged at the Giganotosaurus, but before he was able to reach it, it swiped him with its powerful tail, sending him crashing to the ground.<p>

"You can do it, Chomp!" Max cried as Chomp struggled to stand "I know you can!"

"Just give it up already" The man said coldly "You know it's hopeless…"

"No! It's not!" Max shouted back "I'll beat you! Just you wait!"

"Even if you lived for a millions years, you still wouldn't stand a chance against me." The man said mockingly, raising his sword again "Incinerate him!" He called, swiping the Fire-Scorcher card along the blade of the sword.

The Giganotosaurus opened its jaws up wide, and a large, dark fireball began to form in its mouth. In the next second it threw its head forwards, releasing the fireball against Chomp.

"Chomp! Watch out!" Max cried. Chomp was able to jump out of the way just in the nick of time, but although he was able to avoid a direct hit, the attack still grazed his side. He roared in pain as he struggled to remain standing.

"Chomp!" Max cried, rushing up to him. He immediately noticed the Fire Scorcher had left a large burn on Chomp's side. "Don't worry, Chomp…" He murmured "Its all right…I'm here with you, pal…"

"Well? What's the holdup?" The white-haired man said mockingly "I thought you said you'd beat me?" Max gritted his teeth. He knew he still had a stronger move left: The Final Thunder-card he had received from Dr. Z way back then. But would it be enough…?

"I just can't understand you humans…" The man said coldly "You always work so hard for so long to make things the best you can, yet as soon as you get the chance you allow your own foolishness to make it all fall apart in mere moments…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max said angrily. The man smirked at him.

"The dinosaurs." He said "They hold possibilities far beyond what you can ever imagine, but in the end you humans just let it all slip you by, because you were so foolish…"

"I don't have a clue of what you're talking about!" Max shouted furiously at the man, whose smile grew wider.

"I didn't expect you would." He said coldly "You're way to weak and foolish to ever understand…"

"That's it! I've had enough!" Max said "Let's go, Chomp! Final Thunder!" He called, swiping the card. Chomp rushed forward, ramming into the Giganotosaurus, causing it to stagger backwards. He then quickly fired a burst of lightning from his horns, hitting it in the side of its body. Immediately after, seven orbs of lightning appeared in a half-circle above Chomp, and he fired a barrage of lightning-bullets towards the Giganotosaurus. It roared as the bullets hit it in the centre of its body, and fell crashing to the ground. Max clenched his fist, hoping it would be enough…

In the next second there was another roar, and the Giganotosaurus rose to its feet again. The Final Thunder had obviously done some damage, but nowhere near enough to hurt it, let alone defeat it.

"No! It can't be!" Max cried in desperation.

"It is." The man said coldly "And now I will put an end to your foolishness once and for all! Dark Inferno!" He called and swiped the card along the blade of his sword. Pitch-black flames enveloped the Giganotosaurus and suddenly it charged right at Chomp. The impact sent Chomp crashing hard to the ground. As he struggled to stand back up, the Giganotosaurus suddenly charged at him again and he was soon surrounded by its dark flames. And as the flames slowly died down Chomp slumped to the ground and turned back into a card.

"Chomp!" Max cried and rushed over to pick up Chomp's card "Its okay, Chomp…" He murmured "You're going to be fine…"

"Well, well. Looks like you've reached your end at last." The white-haired man said as he walked up in front of Max as the Giganotosaurus towered over him and roared. Max gritted his teeth and wished he could do something. Anything. But he couldn't come up with anything no matter how hard he thought. It seemed as if this really was the end. He could feel a wave of fear welling up inside him.

"Don't be too hard on yourself." The man said with an evil grin "I told you it was hopeless, didn't I? And deep down I'm sure you knew you could never defeat me…" Max slowly backed up against the wall behind him, desperately trying not think of how scared he was.

"Now it's time to get rid of you for good, just like I promised." The man said as he pulled out another card from his cloak "But don't worry" He said as an evil grin spread across his face "I will at least spare you the pain of being alone."

"W-What do you mean?" Max said as he slumped onto the ground, paralyzed with fear. The man gave him another evil smile.

"Once I'm done with you, I'll make sure to send your two friends to where you are as well. At least that way you won't have to feel lonely…"

It felt as if the world had suddenly gone completely silent. All Max could hear were the man's words echoing through his head. He closed his eyes and covered up is ears, desperately trying to block them out. And as he did he could almost see Rex and Zoe in front of him, he could even hear them scream as they vanished in a swirl of pitch-black flames…

Suddenly a strange feeling came over him. He opened his eyes and looked right into the white-haired man's eyes.

"I won't let you…" He said as he rose back to his feet.

"Hm?" The man said as he looked coldly at him.

"I won't let you" Max said again, and at the same time he felt his fear slowly die away "I don't care what it means to me, but I won't let you touch them. No matter what happens to me I won't let you hurt my friends! You hear me? I'm going to stop you! Even if it kills me!" He shouted.

What happened next happened so fast Max had no idea what hit him...


	15. Heart in the thunder

Chapter 15:

Max had no idea where he was. Suddenly the world around him had turned into a foggy white. What just happened? Had the white-haired man finished him off? Was he dead? He looked around in amazement: Wherever he looked it was all a foggy white. He looked down on his hands, but they seemed normal. He carefully touched his face. He could feel his hands against his skin, so that must mean he was still alive, right? He looked around him again. There seemed to be no end to the place where he was. Could he somehow have been transported to another location? If so, how, and more importantly why? As he thought about it, he suddenly heard something. He wasn't sure what it was, but for some reason he suddenly got a strange urge to follow it and find out. He slowly began to walk of into the white surrounding him. And as he did he suddenly heard the sound again. It sound a little like a low rumbling and he couldn't help but feeling that whatever it was that made the sound knew he was there, and was calling for him…

Max had no idea how long he had been walking trough the strange, foggy white when, suddenly, he heard the sound again, and soon he noticed the outline of a huge figure in the white that surrounded him. As he walked closer to it he suddenly realised it looked very familiar for some reason. Whatever it was were now standing just a few metres away from him with its back turned. Max blinked. It looked almost like...

"Chomp?" He said in amazement. As he said it, the figure suddenly turned around and began moving towards him. In the next second it stood right in front of Max, and it turned out he had been right: It _was_ Chomp!

"Chomp, what's going on? What is this place?" He asked. But Chomp didn't move. He just stood there, looking right into Max's eyes.

"Please, Chomp!" Max begged, as the tears started welling up in his eyes "You've go to help me!" But he just stood there, looking at Max.

Suddenly Max's head began pounding. The sound was so intense and came so suddenly that he once again closed his eyes and covered up his ears, but the sound kept echoing through his head. Max was just wondering what was going on when, suddenly, the sound stopped. He opened his eyes. Chomp was gone. He looked around desperately for him, and suddenly he realized there was something lying in front of him on the ground. He picked it up, and immediately realized it was Chomp's card! He picked it up, clutching it tightly against his chest.

In the next second the intense pounding was back. Max was just about to cover up his ears again, when suddenly he realized something: He could feel his heart beating underneath his hands. The sound echoing in his head sounded almost exactly the same, but for some reason it seemed stronger somehow. He slowly removed his hands still holding Chomp's card from his chest, and to his surprise he could actually feel it vibrating in his hand, and it felt almost exactly the same as his own heart beating. Could that mean the sound inside his head was the sound of Chomp's heart beating? But what could it mean...?

He looked at the card again. Suddenly it stopped vibrating, and the sound in his head died down again. Max sighted. In the next second the card suddenly began glowing with an intense, yellow light, and Max quickly closed his eyes. The light soon died down, however, and Max opened his eyes again and looked at the card. He couldn't believe what he saw: The picture of Chomp actually changed in front of his eyes! He could see how Chomp's scales slowly changed from yellow to topaz-sparkling and his horns seemed to change from white to silver.

Suddenly Max understood everything.

* * *

><p>"What was that just now?" The white-haired man asked coldly. Max looked around in amazement. The strange, white place was gone. He was back in the city, with the man and the Giganotosaurus standing in front of him. He looked down, and realized he was still holding Chomp's card in his hand. And he knew what he had to do.<p>

"Well, it doesn't matter" The man said coldly "Now it's time for you to disappear!"

"Sorry, but I think you've got it backwards" Max said, looking right into his eyes "I'm not going anywhere, you are!"

"I think I've heard that before…" The man said mockingly.

"One problem: This time it's really true!" Max said, raising Chomp's card into the air. And in the same moment he did, an intense yellow light suddenly enveloped him.

"What's this?" The white-haired man said as he took a step backwards, holding his hand in front of his face to block out the light.

"Evolution Slash!" Max cried, slashing the card "Come Forth! Rolling Thunder Triceratops!"

* * *

><p>"Hey, what's that light?" Zoe said as she gazed into the distance.<p>

"It looks like it's coming from where Max went..." Rex said "But what could it mean?"

"It means your friend succeeded." Black Crystal said, now sounding calm again.

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked.

"Do you mean that…?" Rex said slowly.

"Yes." Black Crystal replied "Even in the face of defeat your friend was able to invoke the power slumbering deep inside of him, allowing him to master the Evolution Slash. That light is the proof of his success."

"Does that mean Max will be all right?" Zoe asked nervously. Black Crystal turned towards her.

"Victory will soon be in his grasp." He said. Both Rex and Zoe stared at him.

"Come. Let us go." He said as he turned around and started walking down the road towards the light. Rex and Zoe quickly followed him, closely followed by Ace and Paris.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, in the forest outside the city, two figures stood in a clearing. They where almost completely concealed by the trees, and in front of them something that looked like a glowing ball was floating in mid-air. As they looked into the strange ball they could clearly see everything that happened between Max and the white-haired man. And they seemed very interested by what was going on.<p>

"Oh, no" One of them said sarcastically and giggled "This looks troublesome."

"Interesting…" The other one said "Looks like our plans might not go so smoothly, after all…"

"Huh?" The first one said.

"Could it be that those children might actually catch up to us?" The other one said "Let's watch carefully. Then we're heading there…" The first one giggled again.

"I've been waiting for this! We're finally getting started!"

* * *

><p>The light around him slowly died down, revealing Chomp standing in full form in front of Max. Only this time he looked severely different: His yellow scales now gave of a shimmering, crystal-like sparkle and his horns looked like they had suddenly turned silver in colour. Max looked in amazement at the dinosaur standing in front of him.<p>

"Chomp?" He said in amazement. The Triceratops turned its head and looked at him, and as their eyes met Max knew there was no doubt about it: It really _was_ Chomp!

"I did it…" Max said, as an overwhelming feeling of joy came over him "I really did it...I did it! I actually mastered the Evolution Slash! Yeah!"

"I don't know what kind of trick you just pulled, you pathetic insect, but it doesn't mean a thing to me! Dark Inferno!" The white-haired man called, swiping the card along the blade of his sword. The pitch-black flames once again enveloped the Giganotosaurus, and in the next second it charged at Chomp.

"All right, Chomp" Max said as they both turned towards the charging Giganotosaurus "Let's wipe that grin of his face, once and for all!" Chomp rushed at the Giganotosaurus, ramming right into it with his horns. The black flames immediately dispersed, and the Giganotosaurus was sent crashing to the ground.

"What? Impossible!" The man said, and for the first time there was a hint of shock in his voice.

"Just so you know…" Max said to the man "That was for calling me foolish and weak." Even though the man was still shocked over seeing the Giganotosaurus knocked to the ground so easily, he was still able to produce an evil smirk.

"Pathetic..." He said coldly as the Giganotosaurus struggled to stand back up "You score one blow, and you think you're king of the world? I truly feel sorry for you..." Suddenly his smirk vanished. His whole face suddenly seemed to be twisted with rage.

"That's it!" He shouted furiously "I don't care about this anymore! I'll simply destroy you and this whole city in one blow! Go! Absolute Darkness!" He shouted as he swiped the card along the blade of his sword. The Giganotosaurus roared as it opened its jaws, and a pitch-dark orb began to form inside its mouth, much like it had previously done when using Fire Scorcher. Only this time the orb didn't seem to be made of fire; it looked more like this orb was made out of actual darkness…

The black orb quickly grew in size and in just a few seconds it was almost as big as the Giganotosaurus itself.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Now disappear along with this city!" The man called as the Giganotosaurus threw its head forwards, sending the black orb flying towards Chomp.

"And this next one…" Max said as he closed his eyes, opening them again, and he saw that he was holding a card in his hand "Is for threatening to kill my friends! Go! Rolling Thunder Blast!" He called, swiping the card. Lightning suddenly surrounded Chomp, forming what looked almost like a barrier around him. At the same time the black orb reached him, and Max could feel the ground quake under his feet as the orb smashed right into the barrier, but the orb just couldn't seem to get through the lightning surrounding Chomp. The black orb suddenly seemed to be vibrating, and in the next second it exploded in a cascade of black, and Max could see the nearby buildings quickly shattering to pieces. But the lightning had shielded him and Chomp from harm.

"It can't be!" The white-haired man shouted "That was my most powerful move! What kind of move is this?"

"You haven't seen anything yet." Max replied.

The lightning around Chomp suddenly intensified, and in the next second it shot up into the sky and vanished. But no sooner had it disappeared before large, black clouds started to gather in the sky above him. Chomp suddenly reared on his hind legs and roared, and in the next second a cascade of lightning bolts shot out from the clouds above, hitting the Giganotosaurus. It roared out loud as the lightning bolts kept crashing down on it, and tried to get out of the way, but more lightning bolts struck down around it, preventing it from going anywhere, as the lightning bolts kept crashing down on it. Suddenly it stopped, and the clouds slowly faded away. The Giganotosaurus stood there unmoving, as if it had been frozen in place. Both Max and the white-haired man just stood there staring at it. Then it suddenly stumbled forwards and fell crashing to the ground, and in a flash of red light it turned back into a card.


	16. The war begins

Chapter 16:

Max and the man stared as the defeated Giganotosaurus's card fell down on the ground in front of them. Slowly an overwhelming feeling of joy welled up inside of Max.

"We did it…We did it!" He cried, raising his fist up in the air "We did it, Chomp! We won!"

"This cannot be…" The white-haired man said as he slumped down on his knees, his face twisted with rage "How could this happen? I'm one of the almighty Ancient Emperors, and you…You're nothing!" He cried furiously at Max.

"Say whatever you like" Max said to the man "But there's one thing you can't say anything about: I just beat you, so just face it!"

"You…You…" The man said furiously as he picked up the Giganotosaurus's card "You…"

"Max!" A voice suddenly called. Max turned around and saw Rex and Zoe come running towards him along with Ace and Paris, with Black Crystal following close behind.

"Hey!" Max said joyously "Man, I'm I happy to see…" He started, when Zoe suddenly ran up right in front of him with a furious look on her face.

"All right, you better start explaining yourself! You're in real trouble now, Max Taylor!" She shouted at him. Max flinched in surprise and fear.

"Zoe, what are you…?" He started, but she just kept yelling at him.

"What do you mean by running of all on your own like that? Well?" She shouted at him.

"Zoe, I…" Max said, more nervous than ever, but suddenly the anger in Zoe's face died away, and instead tears began welling up in her eyes. In the next second she had wrapped her arms around Max, hugging him tightly.

"Zoe…" Max said, completely in awe.

"I thought you were a goner…" She murmured as more tears welled up in her eyes "I thought I would never see you again, you big reckless jerk…"

"Its okay, Zoe, I'm fine…" Max said, still taken aback by what just happened. Zoe released him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Sorry about that Max…" She said while sniffling a bit "I'm just so glad you're okay…"

"I think that goes for all of us." Rex said as he walked up the two of them "You really did it, Max! You actually beat him!"

"Well, Chomp did all the work…" Max said and turned to Chomp. Rex and Zoe both looked at him in amazement.

"It's amazing…" Zoe said.

"It's just incredible…" Rex said. And even Ace and Paris seemed impressed.

"Yeah, but it looks like the fight's over now." Max said "Get some rest, Chomp!" He said as he returned him to his card, slashing it again to make Chomp appear in his small form. Max immediately picked him up in his arms and hugged him.

"I'm so proud of you Chomp…" He said "You were amazing!" Chomp looked up at Max and gave him a happy look, then, without warning, he closed his eyes and collapsed in Max's arms.

"Chomp! Chomp!" Max cried "Please be all right! You have to…" Suddenly he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around and saw Black Crystal standing in front of him.

"You have to help me!" He said as the tears started to well up in his eyes "I don't want him to…"

"He's fine. Just sleeping." Black Crystal said calmly. Max looked at him, and then he quickly looked at Chomp, and realized he was still breathing. He drew a sight of relief.

"He just needs some time to recover his strength." Black Crystal said "The tremendous power produced by the Evolution Slash is tiring for a dinosaur, so it is perfectly natural that they need to rest up afterwards."

"Thank goodness…" Max said.

"But I must say that I am impressed. The power of your Thundering Spirit is far beyond anything I could ever have imagined." Max gave him a confused look.

"The power of my _what_?" He said in confusion.

"Just like my inner power, Shining Clarity, allows me to unite mine and Nanotyrannus's spirits to perform the Evolution Slash, your power, Thundering Spirit, allows you to do the same with your Triceratops." Black Crystal replied.

"Thundering Spirit…" Max said "So that's my inner power?"

"That's right." Black Crystal replied "Your unbreakable courage even in the face of defeat, and your intense determination to keep your friends out of harms way allowed it to awaken deep within you." Max suddenly remembered something.

"Before it happened" He said "I was in this strange place. Everything was all white, and then I could feel my own and Chomp's heartbeats inside my head. What was that all about?"

"I would assume that it was there you saw your dinosaurs new form for the first time, am I right?" He asked.

"Yeah, how could you know that?" Max asked in surprise.

"Do you remember what I told you during our first encounter? About your heart beating as one with the one of your dinosaur?" He asked calmly. Max stood silent for a few seconds.

"Do you mean I actually went inside my own heart?" He said at last.

"I suppose that's one way you can put it." Black Crystal replied calmly. Rex and Zoe suddenly walked up to them, along with Ace and Paris.

"So does that mean that might happen to us as well?" Rex asked and looked down at Ace.

"Yes." Black Crystal replied.

"That is, if we actually manage to learn the Evolution Slash…" Zoe said as she looked down at Paris.

"You will." Black Crystal said "I have no doubt about it…"

"Never fear! Help has arrived!" A voice suddenly called. They all turned around and saw Dr. Z come running towards them along with Ed, Zander and Ursula. And running behind them were Terry, Spiny and Tank.

"All right, let's get this going!" Dr. Z said and looked around wildly, quickly spotting the white-haired man, still on his knees in frustration.

"You!" He called, pointing at the man "Get up on your feet and fight! Let's go!" The man gave him an ice-cold stare.

"Um, hate to break it to you, but the battle's kind of over…" Max said as he walked up to them.

"What do you mean "over"?" Zander asked.

"Max fought against him and won." Rex replied, nodding towards the white-haired man. The four of them stared at him.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Dr. Z said "Not even all three of my dinosaurs had a chance, so how could you possibly do it? On your own none the less?" He said to Max.

"It's true!" Zoe said "Max learned how to do the Evolution Slash, and beat him!"

"He did _what_?" Dr. Z cried out in shock.

"Well, in that case…" Ursula said and she, Ed and Zander returned Terry, Spiny and Tank to their cards, and called them back out in their small forms.

"You!" Dr. Z suddenly said, pointing at Black Crystal "You have to teach me how to do that Evolution Slash-thingy! Pretty please! Otherwise I'll never be the Dinosaur King!"

"I already told you it can't be taught." He replied calmly.

"Yeah" Max said "And besides, you need to have a really close bond with your dinosaur to do it!"

"Oh yeah, are you suggesting I don't have a close bond with my dinosaurs? Just watch!" He said as he walked up to Terry and picked him up "Isn't that right, Terry? You and I are best friends, aren't we?" Terry just started biting on his beard "Ouch! Ouch! Let go of me, you little rascal!" He cried as he tried to get him of. Max couldn't help but grinning, and Rex and Zoe smiled as well. Even Ed, Zander and Ursula seemed to be struggling not to start laughing.

"Do you really still believe you beat me by your own power?" The white-haired man suddenly said furiously as he rose to his feet. They all turned around and saw he had taken out his sword again.

"Trust me" He said through gritted teeth "Whatever lucky fluke that helped you win won't happen twice. I will…"

"Enough!" A voice suddenly called "Stop that at once, Creaton! You're only disgracing yourself!" The man immediately whirled around, and this time he actually seemed frightened…

"Hey, who said that?" Max called as he whirled around as well "Where are you?".

"We're right here!" Another voice called, and in the next second two figures jumped down from the remains of one of the buildings previously destroyed, and landed in front of the group. One of them was pretty short, about the same height as Max. The other one was just slightly shorter than the white-haired man, but he seemed a bit more muscular, or at least more bulky. And both of them wore white cloaks with hoods covering their faces and a Tyrannosaurus-skull emblem on the chest! They both removed their hoods, revealing their faces. The short one looked like a young boy with extremely long, black, spiky hair reaching far down on his back. His skin was pale, much like the white-haired man's, and he had pretty dark, narrow eyes. The other one looked much like an elderly man, with pale, wrinkled skin and no hair, but he had a very long white beard, of which most of it seemed to be stuffed into his cloak. One of his eyes was cover by something that looked very much like a metal plate, but the eye that was visible was grey and sharp. They both looked at the white-haired man in front of them.

"See? See?" The black-haired boy said while giggling. His voice was pretty high-pitched and there was a clear hind of ill-will in it "Didn't I say we shouldn't have let the weakest one of us do all the preparations?" The white-haired man growled.

"What's that supposed to mean, you little brat?" He snapped at the boy.

"Don't be mad. You know it's true!" The boy said and giggled again.

"Why you little…" The white-haired man started.

"That's enough, both of you!" The elderly one said "We have more important things to take care of…" His voice was deep and dark, and for some reason Max felt a chill going down his spine when he heard it...

"Hey!" Max said as he stepped forward "Just who are you two?" They both looked at him.

"Oh, that's right" The boy said sarcastically and giggled again "We forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we? I'm Juraton of the Ancient Emperors. Pleased to make your acquaintance!" He said with a little bow as he kept giggling. The elderly one didn't say anything. "And he's Triaton of the Ancient Emperors." The boy said and nodded towards the elderly one. For some reason he didn't sound sarcastic when he said it, and neither did he giggle this time. He almost seemed to have a certain respect for the elderly man…

"And I see you already met Creaton" The boy said, now sounding sarcastic again "He's our lowest-ranking member." He said and giggled as he pointed towards the white-haired man. He didn't say anything, but he growled again.

"Creaton. Juraton. Triaton." Black Crystal said "The three Ancient Emperors."

"So you are the Ancient Emperors!" Rex said as he stepped forward "What are you doing here, and what do you mean by come wreaking havoc here in our city!"

"Yeah! Just what is it your after, anyway?" Max asked angrily.

"That is none of your business!" The man named Creaton snapped, but the elderly man, Triaton, suddenly stepped forward, giving him a sharp look with his grey eye, as if telling him to be quite.

"They deserve to know, Creaton" He said with his deep, dark voice "After all, they are important pieces in our plan…"

"What plan?" Zoe said with an angry look on her face. Triaton looked at her. For a moment he didn't say anything.

"This world has fallen from its former grace…" He said at last "Mankind's foolishness has driven Earth to the brink of destruction, and it must be stopped…"

"That's almost exactly what you said to me!" Max said, pointing at Creaton "Just what does that mean?"

"Mankind has turned its back on their one chance to make the world perfect a last, and therefore the world must fall…" Triaton replied.

"Hold on, what do you mean "fall"?" Rex said. Triaton looked at him.

"This world needs to be destroyed, so that a new, better one can be born…" He replied.

"You mean you want to destroy the whole world?" Max said furiously "Forget it! That's not going to happen!" Triaton gave him an intense look.

"Yes it will. The Wrath of the Reaper will see to that…" He said.

"So that is what you have been planning…" Black Crystal said, and for the first time there was a hint of anger in his voice.

"Wait, the what of the what?" Max said, now sounding confused.

"Do you not know?" Black Crystal said, now sounding shocked "The Reaper's Wrath is another name for the gigantic meteor that crashed on Earth during the Cretaceous period, and caused the dinosaurs to go extinct." Max, Rex and Zoe stared at him in shock.

"You actually plan to make that thing smash into Earth again?" Zoe shouted as she turned towards Triaton.

"That's right…" He replied.

"But if that disaster were to take place again it wouldn't just affect the dinosaurs! All of mankind and all other species living on Earth would be wiped out for good!" Rex shouted.

"Which is exactly what we want…" Triaton replied "And once they are, we will step forward to reshape the world and restore it to its former glory…"

"That's it!" Max shouted "You're officially as insane as insane can be!"

"I really don't want that to happen…" Ed said in horror.

"I know history tends to repeat itself, but this is ridiculous!" Zander exclaimed.

"For once I actually agree with you!" Ursula said and turned to Triaton "Listen now you old coot! If you hate this world so much why don't you and your cloaked friends just go of and find yourselves another one to live in, and just leave us normal people to live in this one in peace!" Triaton just looked at her.

"But this is our world…" He said "Or at least it will be…"

"Not if I can help it!" Max said through gritted teeth "We're going to make sure your plan never succeeds!"

"That's right!" Rex shouted.

"Yeah!" Zoe said.

Triaton stared coldly at them. Then his wrinkled face suddenly curled into a smile.

"But it is you who will make it all possible…" He said "It is by your power the Wrath of the Reaper will fall upon this world…"

"That's just insane!" Max shouted furiously "There's no way we'll ever help you creeps! Especially not with a plan as insane as that!"

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter…" Triaton replied "You already bear three of the Stone Plates, and once we claim that power as our own the Reaper will be ours to command…"

"You seriously think we're going to let that happen?" Zoe shouted.

"Forget it!" Rex shouted furiously "You'll never get them! Never!" Triaton stared at them again.

"The great battle that lies ahead will be what decides the fate of this world…" He said as he slowly eyed them all with his one grey eye "All the pieces are gathered…" He said as he looked from Max, Rex and Zoe, then the Alpha Gang and finally Black Crystal "The war is about to begin…"

"Yeah, and don't forget we're in this as well!" A voice called, and suddenly Sheer flew down in front of them, followed by Gavro and Foolscap.

"We still have a score to settle with you!" Foolscap said.

"Yeah, and we really look forward to smash you all up!" Gavro said.

"And don't forget about me…" A voice suddenly said, and almost immediately they could hear someone humming.

"Don't even tell me…" Max said trough gritted teeth. Suddenly a fourth winged figure landed in front of them. It had pale green skin and white hair and beard. And it was holding a small, lavender-coloured Apatosaurus in its arms.

"Spectre!" Rex shouted.

"I can't tell how happy I am you remember me!" He said, blinking at the group. They all made a disgusted face "Now listen to this song I came up with…" He said as he started humming again.

"His singing voice is as awful as ever…" Zoe said while covering up her ears.

"Pardon me! I happen to like my voice, and so does Bronte-kins!" He said angrily "Perhaps you need to be taught a little lesson! It's time to play, Bronte-kins!" He said as he turned him back into a card, immediately releasing him in his full form.

"Hey, I want to have fun, to!" Sheer said as she unleashed Maximus.

"Yeah, we all want a piece of them, boss!" Foolscap said and unleashed Armatus.

"I've been waiting for this!" Gavro said as he unleashed Gigas.

The four Spectral Dinosaurs now towered over the group.

"Destroy them!" They all cried in unison.

"Wait!" A voice suddenly called. They all whirled around and realized it had been Triaton calling.

"What do you mean "wait"?" Sheer said in surprise "If we crush those brats now we can get all those Stone Plates right away!"

"Yeah, wasn't that the plan?" Foolscap said.

"Besides, you promised we would get our revenge on them if we helped you!" Gavro said.

"There's just no way I'll forgive those brats for what they did to me!" Spectre said.

"The time for our plan to take root…Has not yet arrived…" Triaton replied "We will all retreat for now and wait for the right moment…"

"But…" Spectre said furiously.

"Hey!" Juraton suddenly said "Are you questioning his orders? If you want to battle so badly I'll be more than happy to take you on…" He said and giggled as he put his hand into his cloak. The four pirates didn't answer, but growled furiously. Creaton, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly stepped forward, and this time his face had the same old fiendish smirk on it.

"Don't you worry about it…" He said as he walked up to the four pirates "It may take some time, but trust me: Soon enough you will all feel the sweet taste of revenge…" They all looked at him, and in the next second they were all smiling evilly as well.

"Looks like our great revenge has been put on hold" Spectre said as he returned Bronto to his card. The other pirates did the same thing with their dinosaurs "But you better believe we'll be back!"

"And you better believe it won't be fun!" Sheer said.

"Well, it will be for us! Maybe not so much for you!" Foolscap added.

"Looks like its goodbye for now!" Gavro said. And in the next second they took of, and soon they were out of sight.

"We should get going to…" Triaton said. The other two nodded.

"Hey, you! Wait!" Max called, but in the next second the three of them had jumped up on a nearby building and disappeared. Max clenched his fist in frustration.

Chomp suddenly began to move in Max's arms, and in the next second he opened his eyes and immediately looked up at Max. As their eyes met Max could clearly tell that even though he had been sleeping all this time, he was somehow aware of what they had in front of them. Ed, Zander and Ursula all slumped onto the ground.

"If this is a dream, feel free to wake me up at any time…" Ursula said to the other two.

"I don't think it is…" Ed sighted.

"Things were much easier back when we were the bad guys…" Zander said.

"Would you stop your squealing already?" Dr. Z said impatiently "We need to figure out something to get those creeps out of the way! Otherwise I'll never become the Dinosaur King!" The other three seemed anything but enthusiastic over hearing it. Even Terry, Spiny and Tank looked like they found the thought of fighting this new enemy most unwelcome...

Max, Rex and Zoe walked a bit away from them along with Chomp, Ace and Paris.

"Looks like this is turning out to be more trouble than we ever imagined…" Max sighted.

"For sure. And this time it's not only the dinosaurs that needs saving, but the Earth and all life on it as well." Rex said quietly.

"I'm starting to wonder if there's even anything we can do…" Zoe murmured.

"There has to be!" Max said "We need to stand up and fight! After all, they said they were after our Stone Plates, and we can't let them get their hands on them!"

"You're right, Max…" Zoe said.

"Indeed." Black Crystal said as he walked up to them "This is the beginning of the battle for the Earth and the future. There is no turning back now. And I suggest you two" He said, turning to Rex and Zoe "Try your hardest to learn more about your own inner power, so that you can master the Evolution Slash as well. That power will be needed in the battles that lie ahead…"

"But what if we can't…" Zoe said.

"There is no choice." Black Crystal said, now sounding serious "The outcome of this battle depends on you. You must find the answers before time runs out." He finished.

Paris nudged Zoe's leg and made a calming little sound. Zoe bent down and picked her up, and as she looked into Parasaurolophus's eyes it was as if Paris was trying to tell Zoe she would be with her to whatever end...

Zoe smiled and stroke Paris's head.

"Thank you, Paris…" She said "I promise I'll do my very best…"

"Yeah, no matter what happens I swear I won't let you down, Ace." Rex said as he picked up Ace in his arms, stroking him. Ace gave a little growl, almost as if he wanted to tell Rex the very same thing...

"That's right! No matter what we have to face we will face it together and never give up! After all, we are the D-Team!" Max said. Rex and Zoe both nodded and even Chomp, Ace and Paris seemed to nod in agreement. Black Crystal nodded at them.

"I believe I should take my leave." He said and started walking away down the street.

"Will we meet you again?" Rex asked after him.

"Of course." He replied, turning towards them "You said it yourself: This battle will be about the fate of the world as we know it, it will affect us all, whether we like it or not…"

And with those words he turned around again and kept walking, and soon he had vanished in the distance.


	17. A dangerous trip

Chapter 17:

"Don't you think it's strange?" Max said as he sat down by the breakfast table with Rex and Zoe "I mean, it's been four days and there's still been no sign of those Ancient Emperors."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that as well…" Zoe said as she helped Dr. Cretacia pour up some food for Chomp, Ace and Paris.

"Well, they did say their plans needed time to get ready..." Rex said slowly "But I would have expected them to at least try something to get our Stone Plates by now. After all, they did say they were necessary for their plan…"

"Well, I certainly won't complain if they decided not to show up around here at all…" Dr. Cretacia said, putting down a tray of bread on the table "Enjoy your food now, I'm going back to the lab." She said as she walked out of the room.

"Well, if they decide to, we'll at least have a way to fight them this time around!" Max said as he put butter on a piece of toast.

"Yeah, you do know how to do the Evolution Slash now, and you did beat one of them, so knowing that they might think twice before attacking us." Rex said.

"Yeah, and that makes me think about us…" Zoe murmured "Black Crystal told us to work harder to find our inner powers, but I still don't have any idea how to do it…"

"Well, to be honest I still don't really understand it, either" Max said thoughtfully while chewing "It was like I just knew I had to do it, and then I just did it: Almost as if I just knew exactly how to do it all of a sudden."

"Now that I think about it Black Crystal did say what caused it to awaken was your courage and determination to keep that guy Creaton from hurting us, right?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, now that you mention it I remember he did" Max said "But what do you think that means?"

"I just wonder if that could mean those inner powers is somehow connected to what makes us, well, us…" Rex said slowly.

"What that's supposed to mean?" Zoe asked.

"Well, Max has always been very brave and determined, so maybe the real reason his inner power was awakened was because those two was somehow made stronger during that battle…" Rex said. None of them said anything for a moment.

"I guess that's possible…" Zoe said after a while "But I still don't understand how that's supposed to help us awaken our inner powers…" She said to Rex.

"No, I don't know either." He replied.

"Well, if I could do it, there's no doubt you two can!" Max said "I bet you just need some more time to think about it!"

"Thanks, Max." Zoe said and smiled at him. Rex smiled to.

"Mind if I sit down here with you?" A voice suddenly said. They looked up and saw Marco standing in front of them.

"Sure, go ahead!" Max said. Ever since they had returned from the battle with Creaton, Max had noticed Marco had started to appear amongst them more often, and he no longer locked himself up in his room, at least not for longer periods of time. And even though he was older than them, he seemed to enjoy being with him, Rex and Zoe, just sitting there listening to them while they were talking, occasionally joining the conversation, although most of the time he still seemed a bit distant. Max had also noticed Chomp, Ace and Paris seemed to like having Marco around: The other day Marco had walked out to them while they where playing with Chomp, Ace and Paris in the garden, and settled down in the shadow of the house, and almost immediately Chomp and Ace had ran up to him and started tugging on his jeans, as if trying to sway him to come play with them as well…

And indeed, as soon as Marco sat down by the table, Ace and Chomp, who had just finished their bowls of food, quickly walked up to him. Chomp immediately began tugging at his jeans, and Ace rubbed his head against his leg and whimpered, as if they were trying to get his attention. Marco reached down and stroke Ace's head, and he immediately closed his eyes and gave a pleased growl.

Marco suddenly placed his other hand to his head.

"Is your head aching again?" Zoe asked carefully.

"No…" Marco replied "It's just…I've been having such strange dreams lately…"

"What kind of dreams?" Max asked quickly.

"Well…" Marco said as he absentmindedly scratched Ace on the back of his head, which Ace really seemed to enjoy "I've had them ever since four days ago…And for some reason it's always the same dream…"

"So what is it about?" Max asked curiously.

"I dream that I'm trapped inside a dark room…" Marco said "I keep calling to whoever's out there to let me out…I keep hitting on the walls with my fists, but they won't budge…" He stopped since Chomp suddenly nibbled his leg, as if trying to say he wanted Marco to pet him to. Marco reached out his free hand to rub Chomp's head, and he immediately stopped biting him and closed his eyes and gave a pleased sound as Ace gave Marco's other hand a soft nudge with his head and then he walked back up to Rex.

"Go on" Max said "What happens next?"

"Well, I slump down on the floor thinking there's nothing I can do…" Marco continued "Then I suddenly hear someone speaking outside…And in the next second a door opens and the light makes me cover up my eyes…I see someone standing in front of me in the opening, but it's still too bright for me to see the face…For a moment that person just stands there and then I suddenly hear whoever it is say: "_The time has arrived. It is time for you to go now…_" And then…I wake up…" He finished. They all looked at him.

"Well…That is pretty weird…" Max said slowly "But it's just a dream, right?"

"No" Marco said "I think it's more than just a dream…"

"What do you mean?" Rex asked.

"It all feels so…Real…" Marco replied "I almost feel like it might be some sort of vision. A vision of something that happened before I lost my memory and ended up knocked out outside your house, Max..." He said.

"You mean you think that dream might be a memory from your past?" Rex said.

"Yes, for some reason I do…" Marco replied.

"In that case, maybe that means your memory is about to come back!" Max said eagerly.

"Yes, that's kind of what I'm hoping for…" Marco murmured "It's not that I don't feel happy here with you or anything, but it feels just so strange not knowing who you are or where you came from…"

"Don't worry" Rex said and smiled at him "I promise we'll do anything we can to help you get your memory back!"

"Yeah, as soon as we're done with those Ancient Emperors and all…" Max said.

"Thanks…" Marco said and smiled at them "You can't imagine how much it means to me that you say that…" Chomp made a calming little sound and rubbed his nose against Marco's leg, and then he walked up to Max again. Once again none of them said anything.

"Hey, guys…" Zoe suddenly said, and Max and Rex looked at her.

"What is it, Zoe?" Rex asked.

"Well…I was thinking…What would you guys say to a picnic?" She asked carefully. They both looked at her.

"A picnic?" Rex repeated.

"Yeah, we could pack lunch and head of somewhere and just relax all day, play with our dinosaurs, you know." She said.

"Zoe…" Max said with disbelief in his voice "The Ancient Emperors are planning to make that Reaper-meteor smash into Earth, and you're thinking of having a picnic?"

"Aw, come on, I know that!" Zoe said, now sounding impatient "But nothing's happened in days, right? What do we gain by just sitting around here waiting for them to search us out? Besides, if we just worry about fighting them all the time, we'll just end up all tired out in the end, and then we'll never be able to stop them!" Max just looked at her, and Rex didn't say anything.

"Guys?" Zoe said.

"I see what you mean, Zoe" Rex said "But…"

"I think she's putting up a very good point." Marco suddenly said as he rose from his chair "I might not fully understand those Ancient Emperors or that about the Reaper's Wrath, but I do know it's a lot easier to handle difficult times if you take a time out every now and again…" They all looked at him.

"You know what?" Max said as he turned to Zoe again "Marco's right. I think we all need some time to think of something other than battling and inner powers, so maybe a picnic's not such a bad idea after all!"

"Yeah, I agree" Rex said "It's a wonderful idea, Zoe!" Zoe smiled happily at them both.

"Great!" She said, turning to Marco "Marco, do you want to come with us?" It looked like he was about to say something when, suddenly, Dr. Ancient entered the room.

"Marco, there you are!" He said "I'm sorry to bother you, but something's come up and I could really use your help."

"All right…" He replied as he followed Dr. Ancient out of the room "Sorry…Maybe I can come with you next time…" He said back to Max, Rex and Zoe.

"Are you kids going somewhere?" Dr. Ancient asked.

"Yeah, we thought we'd head oot on a picnic." Zoe replied. He smiled at them.

"That sounds really nice" He said "Just don't be away too long again."

"Don't worry dad, we won't." Rex replied.

"Then you just make sure to have a good time, then!" Dr. Ancient said as he walked out of the room along with Marco.

* * *

><p>While Max and Rex went to get their bags and a blanket to sit on, Zoe prepared sandwiches, juice, cookies, fruit and other things for them to eat, and soon they were ready to head of.<p>

"So…Where do you think we should go, Zoe?" Max asked as they walked down the street.

"I know a perfect place" She replied "You'll just and wait and see…"

As they walked into the city they decided to put Chomp, Ace and Paris back into their cards. Seeing as how things had been calm for a few days now, they suspected people had started to dare to venture out on the streets again, and there was always a risk that someone might recognize them if they let them out. And indeed: As they walked through the city they met quite a lot of people, so they realized it had been a wise choice.

* * *

><p>As they exited the city they kept walking until they finally stopped at a large, open plain. Max immediately recognized the place: It had been here Black Crystal had brought them to teach them about the Evolution Slash and their inner power. When he looked around he also noticed the trees and boulders that had been damaged during their battle.<p>

"So? What do you think?" Zoe asked as she put her bag down on the ground in the shadow of some trees.

"This is great!" Max said as he sat down on the grass "I had almost forgotten about this place!"

"Yeah, it will be great for a picnic." Rex said. They all picked out their cards, releasing Chomp, Ace and Paris in their small forms. Chomp and Ace immediately began running around chasing each other, and a butterfly fluttering by seemed to attract Paris's interest.

Rex and Zoe quickly picked out the blanket from the bag and spread it out over the ground.

"Max!" Zoe called "Do you think you could…?" She started when she realized he wasn't there anymore.

"Where did he…?" She said when she suddenly saw him running around playing with Chomp a bit away.

"Max! Could you come here and help us with the food?" She called impatiently, but Max now laid on his back laughing as Chomp licked his face, so he didn't hear her.

"Max…" Zoe sighted "He just never changes…"

"Maybe we should just let him be for now..." Rex said as walked up to help her "If anyone of us deserves a time out it's Max. After all, he worked really hard to beat that guy Creaton."

"Guess you're right…" Zoe said as they started to pack up all the food onto the blanket.

As soon as they where finished they called for Max, Chomp, Ace and Paris, and they all came rushing and they all settled down to eat.

"This is great!" Max said as he took big bite of a sandwich.

"Yeah, this really was a great idea, Zoe!" Rex said as he handed Ace a piece of grilled chicken, and then he grabbed a piece a melon.

"See? What did I tell you?" She smiled and poured up some water for herself, while Chomp and Paris each munched on some salad.

When all the food was gone they all leaned back on the blanket, just watching the clouds that swept by.

"This is the best!" Max said "I can't believe I almost turned this down because of those stupid Emperors!" Then he stretched out on the blanket and yawned "I think I'm going to take a nap…"

"How convenient!" A voice suddenly called "That will make things so much easier for me!"

Max immediately sprung to his feet, and Rex and Zoe instantly started looking around for who had been speaking as well.

"Who's there?" Max called "Show yourself!"

"As you wish!" The voice said, and in the next second a figure stepped out from the trees next to them. The figure was pretty short and wore a white cloak with a hood covering its face, and a Tyrannosaurus-skull emblem on its chest! The figure raised his hand and removed the hood, revealing the face of a young boy with long black and rather spiky hair, pale skin and dark narrow eyes.

"You!" Zoe cried in recognition.

"I remember you!" Rex said "You're one of those Ancient Emperors! You said your name was Juraton, right?"

"Oh, so you actually remember me?" The boy said with a giggle "I'm charmed!" He said sarcastically.

"What do you want?" Max said through gritted teeth "Are you here to get event for what happened to your buddy?"

"No way!" Juraton said, and suddenly the sarcasm in his voice was totally gone, and he had also stopped giggling, much like he had done back when talking to Triaton "I couldn't care less about that! Ever since Triaton gave him the mission to prepare for the plan, that loser's ego has basically been out of control. I think you did us all a favour when you whipped the floor with him!"

"Okay…" Max said, slightly surprised by the answer "So what are you doing here, then?"

"Man, you're slow!" Juraton said "Just because I don't care what happens to that loser Creaton, doesn't mean I have abandoned the great plan of the Emperors! Especially with three of the Stones right in front of me!" He said, giggling again.

"So you're here to take our Stone Plates?" Max asked angrily.

"Wow, did you figure that out all by yourself?" Juraton said sarcastically "Or did someone slip you a cheat sheet?"

"Don't even think the mind!" Rex shouted "You'll never get them!"

"That's right!" Zoe shouted.

"Oh yeah? Well, I have someone here who says different!" Juraton replied with a giggle, holding out his left arm. Suddenly the sleeve of the cloak began to bulge, and in the next second it was ripped to shreds as something that looked like a clear blue shield appeared on his arm. The edges of the shield looked very sharp, and in the centre there was something that looked like a large blue gemstone, formed like a drop of water…

"Here we go!" He said as he pulled out a card from his cloak and placed it on the gem in the centre of the shield "Let's sink them, Brachiosaurus!" There was a blinding blaze of light, and in the next second the enormous sauropod towered over them. Its gigantic body was covered in grey and dark blue scales, and despite its head being so high up in the air they could clearly see that it had sharp, red eyes, leering down on them.

"That thing is huge!" Max said as he quickly stepped backwards.

"For sure" Rex said "It's one of the biggest dinosaurs ever to live on Earth!"

"Yeah, this could be really nasty!" Zoe said.

"That's right!" Juraton said with a giggle "And your about to see just how powerful he is!"

"Don't take out victory beforehand!" Max said.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Juraton said sarcastically "Creaton might be a loser, but I never really expected a mere human to beat him. I know very well I shouldn't take you lightly! And I have a foolproof plan to defeat you and claim those Stones!"

"We'll see about that!" Max snapped "Let's get him, guys!" Rex and Zoe nodded, and they were all about to call back Chomp, Ace and Paris to their cards when Juraton quickly put his hand into his cloak and pulled out a card, instantly placing it on the gemstone on his shield.

"Torrential Eruption!" He called. The Brachiosaurus suddenly glowed in a blue light, and in the next second large cracks began to spread from where the Brachiosaurus was standing on the ground. The cracks quickly spread past them, and soon they had spread across the whole field. Max wondered what would happen next when, suddenly, he felt something cold welling up over his feet. He looked down and saw that water was leaking out from one of the cracks near him. In the next second the earth began to shake violently as more water began to spurt out from the ground around them.

"What's going on?" Max shouted to Juraton.

"If you like this" He replied while giggling "You're going to love what comes next!"

"Oh no…" Rex said with a terrified look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Zoe said as she turned towards him.

"Run!" He shouted "We must get out of here!"

"What do you mean…?" Max started, but before he could finish he heard a loud noise coming from behind him and suddenly a large shadow fell over them. All he was able to see as he turned around was a huge wave of water towering over them, and before anyone of them had a chance to run it crashed down over them. In the next second the water was all around him. Max looked around desperately for a way up to the surface when, suddenly, he spotted Chomp floating in the water just a few metres away from him. He kicked and struggled and started swimming towards Chomp. Chomp noticed him, and quickly started swimming towards Max. As soon as Chomp was within reach Max quickly reached out his arm and grabbed a hold of him. With Chomp safely in his arms Max once again began looking around for a way up to the surface, and he quickly saw light filtering down from above, and with Chomp still in his arms he swam up towards the surface. As they broke the surface he drew a deep breath and he could hear Chomp do the same thing. He looked around and quickly spotted something that looked like a small island, and with Chomp still in his arms he started swimming towards it. And they crawled up onto dry land.

He looked around himself again, but he almost immediately had to blink: He was now standing on a small mass of land in what looked like a wide open ocean with small islands similar to the one he was standing on scattered out across it. It was as if the plain they had been standing on just a minute ago had suddenly turned into an ocean in mere seconds…

"Max!" Someone called "Max! Over here!" Max whirled around and almost immediately spotted Rex and Ace standing on another small island maybe twenty metres away from him.

"Rex!" Max shouted "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" Rex replied "But where is Zoe?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen her!" Max replied and they both started gazing across the surface of the water for a glimpse of her. Suddenly something broke the surface of the water a couple of metres away. It was Zoe! And Max could see Paris desperately hanging onto her back as they crawled up onto a nearby piece of land.

"Zoe!" He and Rex cried. Zoe turned around and quickly spotted them.

"Max! Rex!" She cried happily "You're all right!"

"Then let's see how long you'll stay that way!" A voice called and in the next second something shot out of the water near them. It was the Brachiosaurus's head! And standing on top of it was Juraton, smiling evilly at them.

"Now let's get this show on the road!" He said while giggling "I'm really looking forward to fighting you on my field!"


	18. Sinking feeling

Chapter 18:

Max, Rex and Zoe stared as the gigantic Brachiosaurus body suddenly broke the surface of the water and it stretched its long neck and roared as Juraton jumped down from its head and landed onto its back.

"Now let's begin!" He said while giggling "Hope you're ready to fight! And this battle will be waged on my field! The ocean!"

"Not good" Rex said "His Brachiosaurs is a water-dinosaur, which means he has the upper hand as long as we're fighting here!"

"And to make things worse we're all split apart by the water…" Zoe said "Meaning as long as we're trapped here we won't be able to cooperate as well as usual…"

"That's right!" Juraton said with another giggle "Not only have I put you on a field that gives me all the advantage, but I've also split you all up, thus rendering your teamwork practically useless!" And once again he started giggling.

"Don't get so cocky!" Max called "Just because you managed to separate us from each other doesn't mean we still can't help each other! And even with all this water you're still no match for us!" He said as he grabbed for his DinoBracer to return Chomp to his card.

"Guess you're the kind of guy who strikes first and asks questions later, huh?" Juraton said sarcastically "Don't you realize that this ocean-field we're on not only gives me a devastating advantage over you, but also drastically limits your attack options? Especially yours..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Max snapped.

"Wait, Max! He's not bluffing!" Rex suddenly shouted "You can't fight using Chomp while we're here!"

"Huh? Why not?" Max asked in surprise.

"It looks like, unlike you, your friends are catching on quickly!" Juraton giggled.

"Why? Why can't I use Chomp here?" Max called towards Rex.

"Because almost all of Chomp's moves are lightning-based!" Rex replied "Water conducts electricity, so if you try using any of Chomp's moves, you'll not only attack that guy, but yourself and us to!"

"That's right!" Juraton said with a giggle "That move you used to finish off Creaton's Giganotosaurus would definitely leave quite a mark on my dinosaur, to, but if you try using it here, you'll end up frying yourself and your friends along with me! But go ahead! I have no problem with you doing all the work for me!"

Max just stared in front of him. He realized that what Juraton and Rex said was true. If he used Chomp's powers here, he could very well end up hurting Rex and Zoe as well. He slumped down on his knees. What should he do?

"Hey, Zoe!" Rex cried "Looks like it's up to us now!" Zoe looked towards him and nodded.

"Well, can we get this going now?" Juraton said "The sooner I can finish you off, the sooner I can get those Stone Plates! And the sooner I get them, the sooner the Emperors can finally make our perfect world a reality!" Suddenly the Brachiosaurus began moving trough the water. Despite its massive size it was surprisingly agile, and was able to swim very quickly trough the water.

"I think I'll begin with you!" Juraton said with a giggle as he looked straight towards Max, and the Brachiosaurus quickly began moving towards the island on which he stood.

"Zoe! We have to help him!" Rex cried.

"I'm on it!" Zoe called as she returned Paris to her card.

"Dino Slash!" She cried, slashing the card "Spring up, Parasaurolophus!" Paris appeared in her full form, but the piece of land they were standing on was so small Zoe immediately had to move to the very edge of it to avoid being trampled by her. But then she quickly sprung into action.

"Go, Paris! Metal Wing!" Zoe called, swiping the card. Three Pteranodons appeared and quickly dove towards the Brachiosaurus, slashing on its neck with their wings. But the gigantic dinosaur just kept moving towards Max, seemingly unfazed by the attack.

"Honestly, did you really think some birds could stop me?" Juraton said sarcastically as he turned towards Zoe with a taunting look on his face.

"Okay, let's try this, then! Element Booster! DinoTector on, go!" Zoe called, armouring up Paris.

"Emerald Garden!" Zoe called, swiping the card. A shining green orb began to form in Paris's mouth, and she quickly sent it flying towards the Brachiosaurus. The orb exploded in a cascade of green light as it hit the Brachiosaurus, and in the next second plants began to cover the it, and it seemed like it was slowing down, but suddenly it shook its massive body, causing the plants to fall of and disperse.

"No way!" Zoe cried.

"I'm afraid flowers will do you no good, either!" Juraton giggled.

"Guess it's up to us now!" Rex said "Let's go, Ace! Huh?" Rex had looked down and saw that Ace was desperately clutching to his leg, burying his face in his jeans while squealing.

"Oh no, Ace!" He said in horror "Not that! Not now!"

"What's wrong, Rex?" Zoe called.

"It's Ace's fear of water again!" Rex cried as he picked up Ace in his arms, desperately trying to calm him down "Come on, Ace…" He murmured "Fight it…" But Ace just grabbed onto Rex's jacket and kept squealing in terror.

"What am I hearing?" Juraton said with a giggle, and just as the Brachiosaurus was about to ram into the island on which Max and Chomp was standing, it made a sharp turn, causing a large cascade of water to rain over Max and Chomp as it turned around, now facing towards the island on which Rex and Ace were standing "I doubt you'll cause me any trouble, seeing as you dare not attack with your Triceratops!" Juraton called back a Max "And you're not exactly a threat to me, either!" He said with another giggle as he turned to Zoe "And now you're telling me that Carnotaurus is scared of water! Looks like taking those Stone Plates will be much easier than I thought!" He started giggling maniacally as the Brachiosaurus began swimming towards Rex and Ace.

"Rex!" Max cried "Watch out!"

"Come on, Ace…" Rex said again "You have to…" Ace carefully looked up from Rex's jacket, but the sight of all the water seemed to make him terrified, and he just shook his head and squealed again "Ace, please…" Rex begged. Suddenly the Brachiosaurus slammed into the island, and the impact from its massive body immediately caused the island to break into pieces, sending both Rex and Ace plummeting into the water.

"Rex!" Max cried as the Brachiosaurus turned around in the water, but no matter were he looked he couldn't see him...

"Looks like that means there's only two left!" Juraton said with a giggle "I'll just get his Stone Plate once you two are sunk! Now who of you should I vanquish next?"

"Rex…" Zoe said as she slumped down on her knees, desperately hoping he was somehow still all right...

"Guess I'll take you!" Juraton said and turned towards Max.

"Maybe I can use Chomp as long as I don't use any lightning-type moves…" Max murmured "From the looks of things I don't seem to have much of a choice…" He was just about to call Chomp back to his card again, when the Brachiosaurus suddenly slammed into the island he was standing on, and it immediately split into pieces, sending Max and Chomp into the water. Once again Max swam back up to the surface looking around desperately for Chomp, and much to his relief he saw him come swimming towards him, crawling up onto his head.

"So you're still in this, eh?" Juraton called as he saw Max "Guess I'll have to give you another push!" And once again the Brachiosaurus moved around in the water towards him. Max grasped after his DinoBracer to once again try to call out Chomp, but to his horror he realized it wasn't there! He must have dropped it when he fell into the water! There was nothing he could do!

"Looks like the end of the line for you!" Juraton said while giggling maniacally again as the Brachiosaurus once again started swimming towards him "Say goodbye!"

Max cringed in fear, waiting for the impact…

Suddenly something started moving in the water next to the charging Brachiosaurus, and in the next second the water suddenly formed into what looked like a giant tornado, which slammed into the Brachiosaurus's side. It didn't seem to do any damage to it, but the force of the twister was able to push the Brachiosaurus a little bit to the side, causing it to swim by Max rather than ramming right into him.

"What was…?" Max said when something suddenly jumped out of the water and charged straight at the Brachiosaurus.

"Ace?" Max said incredulously, as the Carnotaurus jumped onto the Brachiosaurus's back and started biting its neck "But that means…"

"Max! Are you all right?" Someone called. Max looked around and saw that it was Rex! He looked badly beaten and he had lots of bruises on his face, but he was at least clearly still alive, and he climbed up onto another small island.

"Zoe!" Max called "Rex is alive!" She immediately looked up and spotted him.

"Rex!" She cried happily "You're okay!"

"Boy, are you persistent!" Juraton said sarcastically "Looks like I'll have to get serious now!"

The Brachiosaurus began shaking its body, and Ace was quickly thrown off and fell into the water.

"Hurry, Ace! Get over here!" Rex called, and Ace quickly started swimming toward the island on which he stood, and quickly jumped out of the water and up onto it beside Rex.

"Element Booster! DinoTector on, go!" Rex called, armouring up Ace.

"Another hopeless attempt?" Juraton said sarcastically "Very well, I'll just take care of you next!" The Brachiosaurus once again made its way towards them.

"Ultimate Wind!" Rex called, swiping the card. Strong winds enveloped Ace, and in the next second he jumped up into the air and headed straight for the Brachiosaurus's back. Juraton were forced to jump up onto the Brachiosaurus's head again to avoid being hit, as Ace rammed into the side of its back. The attack didn't seem to damage it, but once again it caused the Brachiosaurus to change direction slightly, thus making it miss the island. A cascade of water washed over Rex as the Brachiosaurus swam by him, but he was safe. At least for the moment.

"I have to say" Juraton said, giggling again "You're pretty good at pushing me aside. Too bad you're not equally good at pushing me over!"

"This won't work, Max!" Rex called as Ace quickly jumped out of the water and up onto the island again "Looks like you'll have to call out Chomp after all!"

"I can't!" Max called desperately "I lost my DinoBracer when I got knocked into the water before!"

"Oh no!" Rex cried "Then only I and Zoe can use our dinosaurs now! And from the looks of things neither of us is strong enough to beat this guy!" Suddenly they heard someone screaming and as they both whirled around they saw in terror how the Brachiosaurus rammed the island were Zoe and Paris was standing, thus scattering it and sending both of them into the water.

"Zoe!" They both cried in horror, looking around desperately for a sight of her. Suddenly they saw Paris break the surface of the water, and to their great relief they saw Zoe climbing onto her back, and Paris began moving towards another island.

"Thank goodness she's safe…" Max sighted.

"Looks like pushing you into the water won't really do the trick!" Juraton said with a giggle "Guess I'll have to do something more sinister!" He said and pulled out a card from his cloak, placing it on the gemstone on his shield "Deep-sea Terror!" He called as a blaze of blue light erupted from the shield.

"Great, now what's going to happen?" Max said trough gritted teeth as he gazed across the surface of the water. Rex suddenly noticed something in the water: A huge shadow was moving quickly through it. And it was moving towards Paris and Zoe!

"Zoe! Look out!" He screamed. Paris was able to move aside just as something broke the surface just a few feet away from where she had previously been. As a huge wave of water washed over her Zoe saw a pair of enormous jaws filled with long, sharp teeth slam shut just inches away from Paris. She stared in terror at the enormous creature now sticking its head up trough the water in front of her: It had a massive, crocodile-like head with black skin covered in white stripes, and as she looked at it she could see it gaze upon her with its dark eyes. Suddenly it jumped up out of the water, revealing a huge body with what looked like four large flippers on each side of its body and in front of its tail, and in the next second it dove towards Zoe and Paris, barley missing them, and causing another huge wave to wash over them, almost making Paris fall over in the water. Zoe held on to Paris's back for dear life, and suddenly the creature dived back into the water and vanished. Paris quickly made it to a nearby island, and she and Zoe quickly jumped up onto it.

"What was that?" Max gasped as he looked around wildly for the creature "What kind of monster was that?"

"It was a Liopleurodon…" Rex said "A gigantic sea-living reptile from the Jurassic period…"

"That's right!" Juraton said with a giggle "He's my faithful servant and most prized oceanic warrior, and unfortunately for you, it looks like you're on his menu!"

"Not good…" Rex said, clenching his fists "Now we don't just have to worry about being crushed to pieces by that Brachiosaurus, but about that thing lurking in the deep as well!"

"There must be something we can do…" Max said through gritted teeth.

"There isn't!" Juraton said while giggling maniacally again "You're split apart! You can't damage me or my dinosaur! You're surrounded by my ocean with no means to escape! And should you try to escape, my Liopleurodon will swallow you in one bite! You have no chance to defeat me! Face it! You're done, once and for all!


	19. Fight or flight

Chapter 19:

"Just give up and accept defeat already!" Juraton said as he kept giggling maniacally "No matter what you do it won't do you any good! Not even a miracle can save you now!"

"We'll see about that!" Max shouted. But as much as he hated to admit it he couldn't help but thinking that Juraton had a point: They were trapped and separated by his ocean-field. His Brachiosaurus seemed just too powerful for them to defeat, and escape was also impossible with that Liopleurodon lurking in the water. He beat his fist against the ground. If only he still had his DinoBracer…

"Max!" Rex suddenly shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts "Don't let this guy get to you! If you do you're finished for sure!" Max looked up. Despite the fact that the island he was standing on was quite a bit away from Rex he could clearly see the determination in his eyes: He was definitely not about to give up. He looked down at Chomp, and as their eyes met he could see that despite knowing they couldn't do much right now, he still refused to give up on their friends. Seeing this quickly gave Max new courage.

"I won't give in, Rex!" He called "Even if I can't do anything, I know you and Zoe can! Now go take this guy down!" Rex and Zoe both nodded as they faced towards him, then turning to Juraton.

"Still clinging to false hope, eh?" Juraton said sarcastically "Well, no big deal, I'll snap you out of it soon enough!" Suddenly the Brachiosaurus turned around in the water, now facing towards Max. He gritted his teeth once again, preparing for it to charge at him again…

But it didn't move. It just remained where it was, looking at Max with its sharp, red eyes.

"What's going on?" Zoe said in surprise "Why isn't it attacking?".

"I don't know…" Rex said "But I don't like this…" Suddenly Juraton made a swift movement and pulled out a card from his cloak, quickly placing it on his shield.

"Hydro Shot!" He called. The Brachiosaurus suddenly glowed in blue light, and in the next second it opened its mouth, firing a barrage of water-bullets towards Max and Chomp.

"Max! No!" Zoe cried.

The water-bullets caused large cascades of water to shoot up in the air as they hit the water around Max, and some of the bullets hit the edge of the island he was standing on, breaking off large chunks of the island as they hit it. As the bullets stopped flying the island was barely one third as large as it had previously been, but from the looks of things Max and Chomp hadn't been hit. But with the island now reduced to little more than a small chunk of rock there was no way for them to avoid being hit should Juraton attack them again. Well, no way other than down into the water where the Liopleurodon was waiting...

"Looks like there's nowhere left for you to run!" Juraton said giggling again "But I'll be nice enough to let you chose how I shall destroy you! Do you wish for my Brachiosaurus to do it or do you wish to jump into the ocean, thus letting my Liopleurodon have you for lunch?" Max clenched his fists. Now what should he do…?

"Since you're not running I assume you chose the first" Juraton said sarcastically "So be it! Say goodbye…" Something suddenly hit the Brachiosaurus's side, almost causing Juraton to lose his balance were he stood on its back: It turned out Paris had just rammed into the Brachiosaurus, once again causing it to drift away a bit in the water.

"Not so fast!" Zoe called at Juraton "We won't let you take Max out without a fight!"

"Pushing in line are we?" Juraton said sarcastically "Very well. I think Liopleurodon is hungry enough to take your dinosaur as well!" A huge shadow suddenly appeared in the water next to them and in the next second the Liopleurodon's giant jaws broke the surface of the water as it headed straight for Paris.

"Paris! Look out!" Zoe cried. Paris was able to swim out of the way just in time, causing the Liopleurodon's jaws to bite in thin air, but suddenly the Liopleurodon raised one of its huge flippers out of the water, quickly slamming it down on Paris. She let out a loud cry in pain and the force from the blow caused her to sink below the surface, but she was able to swim back up again. But as soon as her head broke the surface Zoe saw the Liopleurodon open its jaws again as it headed for Paris. As it closed in on her, however, Paris was able to swing her tail at the Liopleurodon's head, hitting it right in the eye. It let out a loud roar in pain, and suddenly it dived back down into the water.

"That was close…" Zoe said.

"Hydro Shot!" Juraton called, and just like before the Brachiosaurus fired a barrage of water-bullets towards Paris. She quickly began moving away from the Brachiosaurus, but despite most the bullets just hit the water around her, quite a few of them hit her square on.

"Paris! No!" Zoe cried. The Brachiosaurus suddenly stopped shooting out the bullets, and from the looks of things Paris was still in one piece as she quickly made it towards Zoe, but as she crawled up onto the island she slumped down, breathing heavily. Zoe quickly kneeled down beside her.

"Paris…Please hang in there…" She murmured. Paris rose shaking to her feet, and it was obvious she wouldn't be able to take many more attacks like the previous one…

"Looks like that's one less pathetic dinosaur for me to worry about!" Juraton said while giggling "Now let's put her out of her misery!" The Brachiosaurus turned towards her, but before it could do anything Ace suddenly jumped off the island he and Rex had been standing on, landing on Brachiosaurus's back and once again started biting its neck.

"Don't give up, Ace!" Rex cried "Don't let that dinosaur get to our friends!" The Brachiosaurus roared and once again it began shaking its body, but Ace bit onto its neck even harder, refusing to let go.

"This is starting to get irritating!" Juraton said, and for the first time there was actually a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Max! Zoe!" Rex called "You have to run! You have to get out of here! Take Paris and get back to land!"

"What?" Max cried in surprise "But what about you?"

"Don't worry, Ace and I will stay here and deal with this guy!" Rex shouted back.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Zoe called "There's no way you can beat him!"

"I know that!" Rex replied "But I still might be able to buy you guys enough time to get away!" Max and Zoe just stared at him.

"Come on, Rex, this is no time to play hero!" Zoe called.

"Please, guys!" Rex begged "You have to understand…After I left with mum and dad to go back to the future I was afraid I'd never see you guys again…That we'd never be back together again... And now that we finally are... I just don't want to risk losing you again!"

"Rex…" Max said, completely in awe.

"Just go!" Rex called "At least that way the Emperors won't get all of our Stone Plates, so even if he beats me they still can't control the Reaper!" Max and Zoe just stood there.

"All right!" Max said at last "Come on, Zoe! Let's do it!"

"Yeah!" She said before turning towards Paris "Are you ready, Paris?" Paris still looked exhausted from being hit by the Brachiosaurus's attack earlier, but from the look in her eyes it was clear she was still ready to give the plan a try.

"Planning to run away from the fight, are we?" Juraton said "Don't think so! Rip that so-called hero to shreds!" The Liopleurodon once again appeared out of the water, this time looking straight towards Rex, and in the next second it dived down again and vanished.

"Hey, where did it…?" Max started, when a huge wave of water suddenly washed over the island Rex had been standing on. The force of the wave was so great it knocked him over, sending him plummeting into the water. And as his head broke the surface he could see the Liopleurodon swimming swiftly towards him with its jaws wide open!

"Rex!" Max shouted as the gigantic sea-reptile closed in on Rex…

Just as the Liopleurodon was about to clamp its jaws over Rex, something suddenly hit it hard in the side of its body, causing its jaws to miss Rex and sending it tumbling on its side back down into the deep: From the looks of things Ace had spotted the Liopleurodon going for Rex, and had immediately stopped biting the Brachiosaurus's neck, and jumped off its back into the water to save him!

Rex quickly grabbed onto Ace as he quickly swam back towards the island.

"Thanks a lot, Ace!" Rex panted as he and Ace crawled up on dry land again.

"Don't think you're in the clear just because you escaped my Liopleurodon! Hydro Shot!" Juraton called, once again placing the card on his shield. In the next second the Brachiosaurus once again fired a barrage of water-bullets towards the island Rex and Ace were standing on.

"Rex! Look out!" Zoe cried. Rex looked up and saw the bullets come flying towards him, but before he could do anything Ace suddenly rushed up in front of him and in the next second the bullets started hailing over him, and he roared out loud as they hit him. And when the bullets stopped flying, Ace slumped down on the ground in front of Rex.

"Ace!" Rex cried "Ace! Are you all right?" Ace gave him a faint look and growled lowly, and then his head dropped down, and in the next second he turned back into a card.

"Ace…" Rex said in awe as he picked up his card "You just saved my life…"

"Rex! Are you okay?" Max called worriedly towards him.

"Don't worry about me, Max!" He shouted back "Just focus on getting out of here! You can still make it!" Max seemed to hesitate for a while, but then he quickly turned towards Zoe "Okay, let's hurry, Zoe!" He called towards her.

"All right!" She called back, and quickly crawled up onto Paris back. Paris then quickly jumped into the water and started swimming towards Max, but it was clear that she was still badly beaten by the battle earlier...

Despite that she was still able to make it over to the island Max and Chomp was standing on. The two of them quickly jumped up onto her back, and she started moving towards land.

"You seriously thought I'd let you get away right in front of my face?" Juraton said with another giggle "That's a good one! Get them!" The Brachiosaurs once again began moving trough the water and it quickly turned around and began swimming after them, quickly gaining on them.

"He's closing in! We'll never make it!" Max shouted as the Brachiosaurus quickly approached them from behind.

"Come on, Paris…" Zoe murmured "Faster…" But instead Paris seemed to slow down, and in the next second there was a flash of light, and she turned back into a card, causing Max, Zoe and Chomp to fall into the water. It looked like the injuries she had received earlier had made her run out of power!

"Looks like you've reached your end at last!" Juraton called towards them while giggling maniacally as the Brachiosaurus quickly approached them "Say goodnight! Cause its time for you to rest at the bottom of my ocean!"

Rex had no idea what to do. Max and Zoe were about to be crushed, and there was nothing he could do…

"Hold on, guys!" He cried "I'm coming!" And he jumped into the water and started swimming towards them. But no sooner had he started swimming than he saw a large shadow in the water about fifteen metres in front of him. The Liopleurodon was back, and as its head broke the surface of the water it immediately opened its jaws, heading straight for Rex. Rex immediately stopped as the gigantic reptile closed in on him, waiting for it to sink its teeth into him…

* * *

><p>Rex immediately had to blink: The Ocean and the Liopleurodon were gone. And there was no sight of Max, Zoe or Juraton and his Brachiosaurus either. All he could see was a foggy white all around him. What was going on? Was this another one of Juraton's tricks or…?<p>

Suddenly it dawned on him. He remembered what Max had said to Black Crystal after his battle with Creaton: How during the battle he had suddenly found himself in some strange, white place. Could this mean the same thing that happened to Max back then was happening to him as well…? Suddenly he remembered something else Max had told him and Zoe: How, while in that place, he had heard a strange sound and followed it, and ended up finding Chomp, and thus ended up awakening his inner power. In other words this meant that if he wanted to get back and help Max and Zoe he first had to find Ace.

"Ace!" Rex shouted "Ace! Where are you?" But he didn't hear anything. His words just seemed to fade away into the white surrounding him. He started walking through the white while looking around him for a sight of Ace.

He had no idea how long he had been walking, when suddenly he stopped. His legs were aching and there were still no sign of Ace. But he knew he had to keep going. He knew he had to find him, and he was about to continue, when suddenly he tripped and fell down on the ground. He quickly sat back up and looked around. All he could see was the same foggy white surrounding him. He sighted. He knew that he had to find Ace, but how was he supposed to do it? There seemed to be just no end to this place…

Suddenly he heard something behind him and whirled around, and through the white he could see a large figure moving towards him. Could it be…?

"Ace?" Rex said out in the white, and in the next second the figure walked up right in front of him, and as it did his heart made a leap: It _was_ Ace!

"Ace!" Rex cried, quickly rising to his feet "I've been looking all over for you! I'm so happy to see you!" Ace just lowered his head, looking at Rex.

_"Could this mean I really am about to find my inner power, just like Max did...?"_ Rex thought and looked at Ace. He didn't move. He just kept looking right into Rex's eyes.

"Ace?" Rex said carefully. Ace just kept looking at him. Rex stepped forward, placing his hands on the sides of Ace's head, then leaning his forehead against his nose.

"Ace…Thank you..." He murmured "Just a few moments ago…You braved your fear of water for me…And you even risked your life to save me…" Ace tilted his head slightly, growling lowly. Rex smiled as he looked into Ace's eyes once again.

"You realize it, don't you?" He murmured "It's not only Max and Zoe I want to protect, it's you as well…You're my best friend, Ace…" Ace growled once again, and suddenly he moved forward, gently nudging Rex's cheek with his nose. Rex smiled once again.

Suddenly he felt how an intense pounding began echoing in his head. And he remembered what it meant…

"This is the sound of your heart I hear inside me, right? Our hearts are beating as one, just like Black Crystal said..." Rex said as he looked deep into Ace's eyes. Ace took a step back, but he still didn't break their eye contact. The sound kept echoing trough Rex's head, but suddenly it died down. In the next second there was a flash of light, and suddenly Ace turned back into a card. Rex picked it up, holding it tightly against his chest.

"Thank you, Ace…" He murmured "Thank you for being my friend…"

In the same moment he said it the pounding was back, and he could feel the card vibrating in his hands, just like his own beating heart…

Suddenly it stopped vibrating, and in the next second the card started to glow in an intense blue light. The light was so intense Rex could feel his eyes burning. He removed his hands from his chest, holding the card up in front of him, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. As the light slowly died down Rex looked in amazement as the picture of Ace change before his eyes: Ace's scales slowly turned sparkling sapphire blue and his horns slowly changed from yellow to golden...

Rex looked at the card and smiled once again.

"Let's go, Ace…" He said "Let's get back and help our friends!"


	20. Within the storm

Chapter 20:

Rex blinked. Suddenly the mysterious white place was gone. He was back in the ocean, and he quickly realized something big was right in front of him: The Liopleurodon laid unmoving in the water just a few feet away from him. For a flighty second their eyes met, and he could see what looked almost like utter surprise in its small dark eyes. In the next second he understood: When he ended up in the strange white place it seemed like he left the place he was currently in, causing him to disappear the very moment the Liopleurodon was about to clamp its jaws around him, resulting in it biting into thin air, which apparently had taken it greatly by surprise, disorienting it temporarily. Suddenly he heard someone screaming. He looked past the Liopleurodon, and to his terror he saw the Brachiosaurus moving quickly through the water towards Max and Zoe, and he could hear Juraton giggling maniacally as he closed in on them. There was no time. He had to save Max and Zoe, and he knew just what he had to do in order to do it. Without waiting any longer he quickly turned around and started swimming back towards the island he had just left, and only a few seconds later he crawled up on dry land. He quickly rose to his feet, clutching Ace's card in his hand.

"Rex! Help!" Zoe cried as the Brachiosaurus closed in on her and Max.

"Don't worry, guys!" He called towards them "Help is on the way!" And he raised Ace's card up into the air, and in the same moment he did, an intense blue light surrounded him.

"Max…" Zoe said in amazement as the light reached her "Could it be…?"

"Yeah...It's the same…" Max replied, now sounding totally stunned "It's just like back when I…"

"That light…It cannot be!" Juraton said as the Brachiosaurus suddenly turned around in the water, just a few metres away from Max and Zoe, and for the first time there was a clear hint of fear in his voice "It's just like back when that other brat beat Creaton! How could I have let this happen?"

"Evolution Slash!" Rex cried, slashing the card "Gust! Perfect Storm Carnotaurus!" As the blue light slowly faded away, Rex saw Ace standing in his full form right beside him. This time, however, he had drastically changed: His scales were shimmering like thousands of dark blue crystals, and his horns had changed from yellow to gold. Rex looked up at Ace and as their eyes met it was almost like they saw not just into each other's eyes, but into each other's souls as well.

"Ace…" Rex said "We did it…Thanks to you and our friends I found my inner power and mastered the Evolution Slash…There's no stopping us now!" And he could have sworn Ace actually nodded at him…

"How could I be this careless...?" Suddenly the Brachiosaurus towered over them, and Rex could see Juraton once again standing on top of its head, his face twisted with fury "It wasn't just that brat…You could do that as well?"

"That's right." Rex replied, looking right into Juraton's eyes "Your plan to get our Stones ends here!" Suddenly Juraton's fury seemed to fade away slightly, and he actually managed a giggle.

"Ends? Now that's just ridiculous! Even if you have the same kind of power as back when your friend defeated Creaton, it doesn't mean a thing! I'm far stronger than that fool is or ever will be! Go! Hydro Shot!" He called, once again placing the card onto his shield. The Brachiosaurus once again glowed in a blue light, and then it fired another barrage of water-bullets from its mouth towards the island on which Rex and Ace were standing.

"Max and Zoe are my friends…" He said as the bullets quickly approached them "My irreplaceable friends…For what you tried to do to them, I'll never forgive you!" No sooner had he said it before Ace let out a loud roar, and in the same moment he did, a strong wind suddenly blew out of nowhere. The wind seemed to whirl around Ace, growing stronger and stronger, and as the water-bullets reached them, they were immediately blown away by the strong winds, some of them even bursted as they collided with the fierce winds, causing large amounts of water to spurt in all directions, but as the bullets kept flying it was clear they had no chance of winning against the winds. The Brachiosaurus suddenly stopped firing the bullets, and as it did Juraton jumped down on its back again, shock and surprise written all over his face.

"This…This doesn't mean a thing, got that?" He said, trying to smile mockingly at Rex "I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve, so don't think for a second this is over! Get him!" Suddenly a large shadow appeared in the water, quickly moving towards the island, and in the next second the Liopleurodon's head shot out of the water, and it opened its jaws up wide, apparently aiming to bite the whole island to bits, and Rex along with it. Just as the Liopleurodon was about to slam its jaws shut Ace suddenly whirled around and Rex could almost see the wind follow his movements, almost like a shadow, and in the next second the Liopleurodon was sent flying into the air as Ace rammed into the charging reptile while the wind around him kept growing stronger. As the Liopleurodon fell plummeting back into the water with a large splash, Rex once again turned towards Juraton.

"I'll say it again" He said "There's no way I'll ever forgive you for what you tried to do to me and my friends! Give up this insanity once and for all, or else!" Juraton growled, his face once again twisted with fury, but suddenly a fiendish smirk spread across his face instead…

"You fool…" He said, and suddenly he started giggling again "It looks like you forgot one important thing: I'm one of the Ancient Emperors, and if you think a little worm like you can ever defeat us, you're sadly mistaken!"

"You're not scaring me!" Rex said resolutely.

"I don't need to. Once you see what I got in store next, you'll no longer pose a threat to me, no matter how powerful you've become!" And suddenly the Brachiosaurus moved around in the water, and in the next second it began swimming towards Max and Zoe, still floating where they had fallen off of Paris.

"Hold on, what are you going to do?" Rex called, and suddenly he could feel a wave of fear welling up inside him.

"Your friends are completely defenceless, and have no way to escape, right?" Juraton called back at him, while giggling maniacally "If they truly mean as much to you as you say, just try saving them from this! Cursed Water!" He called as he pulled out a card from his cloak, quickly placing it onto the gemstone on his shield. The Brachiosaurus suddenly began glowing again, only this time the glow was black rather than blue, and suddenly the water around it seemed to change colour from blue to pitch-black. As it kept moving towards Max and Zoe the black water surrounding it suddenly began to whirl, forming into what looked like a large, black whirlpool around the Brachiosaurus and Juraton, as it quickly made its way towards them.

"Rex! Help us!" Zoe cried in terror as the black whirlpool closed in on them.

"You have to do something!" Max said as he turned around in the water, clutching Chomp tightly against his chest, hoping against hope that doing so could at least protect him from the attack...

"It's no use!" Juraton said while giggling maniacally from within the vortex "There's no way your friend can save you from this, even if he has the same power that you used to defeat Creaton! This is my ultimate move! Face it! It's over!" Rex just stared in horror as the black whirlpool closed in on Max and Zoe. He really hadn't expected it to come to this. What should he do…?

Suddenly a strange feeling came over him, and he looked down onto his hand and almost immediately he realized he was holding a card in it. He looked at it in amazement, and suddenly it was like all his doubt had vanished. And he looked up towards Max and Zoe again.

"Let's end this creep once and for all, Ace! Perfect Storm Strike!" He called, slashing the card. Ace once again let out a loud roar, and suddenly the wind surrounding him began whirling around him faster and faster, and within a just a few seconds the winds began forming into a huge tornado surrounding Ace, towering high up into the sky. Ace suddenly moved forward, and as he did the tornado seemed to follow his movements, almost as if they were one and the same. As the wind ruffled Rex's hair Ace turned towards Rex, and for a split second their eyes met once again. Rex nodded. In the next second Ace turned around and leapt over the edge of the island and into the water. But this time he didn't actually land in the water...

Just when his feet were just a above the surface of the water he stopped, now standing in midair. It was like the wind around him was carrying him, allowing him to actually stand in thin air. The he quickly started running through the air above the surface of the water, with the great tornado surrounding him as he ran towards the black whirlpool quickly approaching Max and Zoe. In just a few second he had caught up with it, and quickly rushed up in front of it and in the next second it crashed right into him. Black water flew in every direction as the dark whirlpool collided with the tornado surrounding Ace, and as the black water came in contact with the water of the ocean, is was almost like it was boiling violently. But the black whirlpool just couldn't seem get trough Ace, and suddenly it stopped moving, and in the next second it seemed to slowly die down.

"Way to go, Ace!" Rex cried.

"No way…" Juraton said as he stared in disbelief while the whirlpool surrounding the Brachiosaurus slowly evaporated into nothing "This means not only Creaton failed…But I did as well…I just can't believe it…"

"We're almost there!" Rex cried "Now let's end this fight once and for all, Ace!" Ace quickly rushed at the Brachiosaurus. The tornado surrounding him suddenly seemed to shrink, and instead turned into what looked like a spherical shield surrounding him, and in the next second he rammed right into the centre of the Brachiosaurus's body, and the enormous dinosaur let out a loud roar as the force of the impact sent it flying trough the air, and a huge wave washed over Rex as the Brachiosaurus plummeted into the water several metres away from the island on which he stood, vanishing into the deep. Suddenly the giant lizard's body broke the surface of the water, and no sooner had it reappeared until there was a sharp flash of light, signalling it had turned back into a card. No sooner had it vanished, before a deafening rumble began echoing through the area, and in the next second the sea vanished, revealing what looked like a large, hollow valley where it had previously been. From where he stood Rex saw in horror how Max and Zoe, who hadn't been standing on any island, falling down the giant chasm that suddenly had opened below them.

"Max! Zoe! No!" He cried when, suddenly, they stopped falling. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then he suddenly understood everything: The wind still surrounded Ace, and he could actually see i blowing steadily around Max and Zoe, slowly carrying them down to the ground, and as they landed on firm ground he gave a sight of relief. They were safe. This time they really were, and he knew it.

"Thanks, Ace…" He said, despite knowing there was no way he could hear him from down were he stood "You're the best…" Suddenly he saw how Ace, who now stood just a few feet away from Max and Zoe on the ground, turned around and looked up at Rex, who now stood on a several metres high pillar of stone rather than an island, and suddenly Rex could feel the wind gently pulling him towards the edge, and in the next second he was falling down towards the ground. But he fell slowly, almost as if an invisible force was carrying him, and after just a few seconds he landed softly on the ground next to Max, Zoe, Chomp and Ace. Before he could even take a single step towards them, Zoe had rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him.

"Thank you so much, Rex…" She murmured "You saved us all…"

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without Ace…" Rex replied as she stopped hugging him, and walked up to him "Ace…" He said "I know I've said it already, but thank you so much. Had it not been for you risking so much for me earlier I might never have been able to do everything I did…" Ace gave a low calming growl. Rex smiled at him, and then turned Ace back into a card. He then slashed the card again, to make Ace appear in his small form, and immediately picked him up in his arms, gently stroking his head "Thanks again, Ace…" He said softly "You were incredible…I just can't tell how proud I am of you…" Ace gave Rex another calming growl, before gently placing his head on Rex's shoulder and slowly closing his eyes, falling asleep. Rex smiled once again.

"Go ahead, Ace…" He murmured "Rest up. You deserve it…" Max and Zoe both walked up to him, smiling.

"Way to go, Rex!" Max said, patting him on the shoulder "You did it! You unlocked your inner power and you mastered the Evolution Slash! And to boot, you beat that Emperor creep!" Rex smiled widely at Max.

"Speaking of…" Zoe suddenly said, now sounding slightly worried "Where did that guy go, anyway…?" Both Max and Rex looked at her.

"Good question…" Max said "Did he just run away when he realized he lost the fight, or…"

"Run away? That's a good one!" A sarcastic voice suddenly said from behind them. They all whirled around and realized Juraton was now standing in front of them. He had a very strained, obviously enraged look on his face, but despite that he was till able to produce a smirk.

"I would never have expected this…" He said "Creaton is one thing, but for me to actually lose a battle…I just never thought it could happen…"

"But now it did happen!" Max said angrily and took a step towards him "So maybe now you creeps will come to you senses, and give up on your twisted plan about having that Reaper-meteor smash into Earth!"

"Give up on it? Just who do you think you are?" Juraton said, and suddenly his anger seemed to die away and Max could almost see a trace of his usual ill-willing smirk "Don't even think it's over! Even though I will admit defeat today..." He said sarcastically with a little bow "Don't you think you've seen the last of me! You've only won one battle, but once the war is over it is us, the Ancient Emperors, who will stand victorious!"

"We'll see about that!" Max said angrily, and Rex and Zoe both nodded in agreement. Juraton just smirked.

"We will…" He said "We will indeed…" And in the next second he had taken a leap up on one of the nearby island pillars, and in the next second he was gone. They all looked around wildly to see were he had disappeared to, but they couldn't seem to find him anywhere. None of them said anything for a while.

"Well…" Zoe said after a while "Maybe we should get back? With all that just happened I sure don't feel like staying here for too long…"

"Yeah, I agree." Rex said.

"Let's get going, then!" Max said, and was about to start walking when, suddenly he stopped dead and turned around towards Rex and Zoe with a terrified look on his face.

"Max, what's wrong?" Zoe asked worriedly.

"I almost forgot!" Max said, as he started to look around desperately "When that Emperor-guy sent me and Chomp into the water before I lost my DinoBracer! I have to find it right away!" And he started running across the now dried out sea-bed, searching for it.

"Hold on, Max, I'll help you look!" Rex said and quickly followed him, Ace still in his arms. As the two boys searched for the DinoBracer Zoe went a little bit away from them, pretending to look for it as well.

"So now it's not just Max but Rex as well…" She said quietly to herself "Both of them have unlocked their hidden powers and mastered the Evolution Slash…And it took them so little time…I wonder if I'll ever be able to do that…"

"Zoe!" Max suddenly called as he and Rex began walking towards her, still looking around for the DinoBracer "Have you found anything?"

"No, not yet." She said quickly, deciding to leave all the thoughts about inner powers out for the moment "Maybe it's…" Suddenly Chomp began yapping as if trying to get their attention, and as they turned around they could see he was poking on something in the ground with his nose horn…

Max quickly ran up to the place where he stood, and saw almost immediately something was sticking up from the ground right were Chomp had been poking at it, and he grabbed a hold of it and pulled it out, and to his great relief he saw immediately that it was his DinoBracer! It was very wet and dirty, but no doubt still unharmed, and he wiped it off slightly and then put it back around his wrist while checking it still worked like it should.

"Awesome! Great work, Chomp!" He said. Chomp nibbled him gently on his leg "Well, then" He said, turning to Rex and Zoe "Let's get going, guys!" The both nodded, and they all began walking towards the city.

* * *

><p>A figure was moving in the forest next to the now deserted plain. A figure wearing a black cloak…<p>

"What a boy…" Black Crystal said quietly as he eyed the group as they walked back towards the city "The power of the bonds he shared with his friends were far stronger than I had ever expected…So strong he didn't hesitate sacrificing his life for them…So strong he ended up awakening the Storming Heart slumbering deep inside of him…" He took his gaze of off them, and instead turned in the direction he had seen Juraton disappear in.

"Two of the Three has already fallen…" He said, once again turning towards the group "To think that things would develop this quickly…" He was about to turn around and walk away, but then he suddenly stopped and looked towards them again "At this rate…" He said quietly "I would say there's only a matter of time before the true fear shows itself…"

* * *

><p>As they walked back through the city Zoe took a deep breath and turned towards Max and Rex.<p>

"Guys…" She said carefully "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course not!" Max said as he walked with Chomp right beside him. Rex nodded to, and suddenly Ace moved slightly in his arms, and in the next second he had opened up his eyes, looking up at Rex. He smiled and stroke him again before turning to Zoe as well.

"It's just that…" She started "With what just happened this means I'm the only one of us not to have awaken my inner power and mastered the Evolution Slash…And both of you learned it so quickly…I'm actually starting to wonder if I'll ever be able to do it…"

"Don't say that!" Rex said "You know that's not true!"

"Rex is right!" Max said "And so what if you're the last one to find your inner power? I bet that whatever power you've got is even more incredible than either of ours!" Zoe looked in amazement at them, and then she smiled.

"Thanks a lot guys." She said "You're the best…"

* * *

><p>A few minutes later they had arrived back at Rex's house, and the same moment they entered the kitchen they saw Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia sit by the table, and they immediately turned around once they realized they were back.<p>

"Hi, kids!" Dr. Cretacia said while smiling "How was the..." She stopped as her eyes fell on them, and suddenly she seemed almost shocked. Dr. Ancient must have noticed something wasn't right, and looked up on them as well, and his face got a frightened look as well.

" Wait a minute...How come you're all soaking wet? And why are you all covered in wounds and bruises?" He asked worriedly.

"Well…" Max said slowly.

* * *

><p>"Say what! Why didn't you tell us all this earlier?" Dr. Taylor almost shouted.<p>

As soon as they had explained everything about their encounter with Juraton for Dr. Ancient and Dr. Cretacia, they had both urged them to contact Reese and Dr. Taylor in the present and tell them everything that had happened during the past days. The only reason the hadn't done it since last time had simply been due to the pure shock and terror over knowing that the fate of the world once again laid in their hands...

"Dr. Taylor, please control yourself." Reese said "Don't you think they've had enough trouble already?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that…" He said, calming down slightly "It's just that I still can't believe what I just heard…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean…" Max said "At first we didn't really want to believe something like this could actually happen again…"

"Indeed." Dr. Taylor said, quickly turning to Reese "But I still can't believe that those Ancient Emperors you kids mentioned actually plan to do such a thing as making the meteor that eradicated the dinosaurs return to Earth…I would have thought that such a thing would be impossible…"

"After all that happened to you and the others a year ago I would have though you'd find anything possible..." Reese said "And seeing as they plan to use the Stone Plates to achieve their goal, and knowing what they were able to acomplish during that last battle, I actually find it very possible for it to actually be true…"

"Max!" Dr. Taylor suddenly said "I know I promised to keep this all a secret from your mum, but with everything you've told me, I doubt I'll be able to keep this whole thing a secret for her much longer…"

"You have to!" Max said "If she were to find out there's no telling how worried she'll be!"

"Indeed." Dr. Taylor said again "Knowing her she'd probably stop at nothing to get both you and Zoe back home…Actually" He said slowly "Maybe that's not such a bad idea! If we used the time-travelling program that Marco left behind we could bring you and the Stones back to the present! Far away from those creeps!" He said eagerly. They all looked at each other.

"To be honest I don't think that's really such a good idea…" Zoe said after a while "Even if we were to escape with the Stones, there's no telling what they would do to all the innocent people living here in the future once they found out we're gone…"

"But…" Dr. Taylor said.

"Yeah. And don't forget" Rex suddenly said "Those Three have Spectre and his goons on their side. If they wanted to, I bet they could easily construct a new time machine and give chase for us."

"But…" Dr. Taylor said again, but Reese suddenly interrupted him.

"I think they all make a good point." She said "Even if they can't get the Stones, the risk bringing them back poses to other people is far too great to ignore. Also, if something were to happen to the future, it would certainly affect the present as well. And just like Rex said, there is no guarantee those Ancient Emperors wouldn't be able to follow them even if we were to bring them back to the present…"

"I see…Sorry…" Dr. Taylor sighted.

"I'd say the best we can do is to trust Max, Rex and Zoe to handle this whole thing" Reese said "After all, they managed to defeat two of them already, so maybe the only way to save the future is to believe those inner powers of theirs will be enough to stop them..."

"Yeah, we'll give it our all! Don't you worry about it!" Max said.

"Yeah, those creeps won't have their way!" Rex said "No way!"

"And as long as we fight to keep the Stones from falling into their hands, they can't fulfil their plans!" Zoe said. All of them looked at each other and nodded. Reese and Dr. Taylor nodded as well.

"Very well." Reese said "It seems to me like we can all trust in leaving this fight in your hands, but I still think I should say this to all of you: Whatever you do, be very careful."

The screen then flickered, before turning blank once again.


	21. The approaching shadow

Chapter 21:

"I just don't get it…" Max said and turned towards Rex and Zoe "After all that happened recently wouldn't those Emperors have shown up again by now?" It had now been a whole week since their battle with Juraton and his Brachiosaurus, and once again there had been no sign of any of the Ancient Emperors...

Rex and Zoe both looked at him. It was early in the evening and they had just finished dinner, so they had decided to head out in the garden while the sun was still up, and now they all sat leaned against the wall of the house along with Chomp, Ace and Paris.

"Yeah, that is pretty strange…" Zoe said "Not that I _want _them to show up again, but it sure feels like it's been a little too quite for a little too long…"

"Judging from what Juraton said before he left, it sounds like they could very well be plotting for the final phase of their plan…" Rex said slowly "And I'd say the fact that we already beaten two of them could very well mean it'll be something big this time around…"

"Yeah, that's right." Max said "Both of those guys Creaton and Juraton already lost once, so that leaves only that old guy…"

"Triaton…" Zoe said quietly.

"Yeah, and from what we've been able to tell up till now, it seems like he's the boss." Max said.

"And seeing as how he hasn't actually done anything yet, that probably means he won't step out until the very end…" Rex said.

"And from the looks of things he must be much stronger than the other two…" Zoe said "Just think about it: When they first appeared before us, both of the others, Creaton and Juraton, seemed pretty scared of him…"

"Well, he's not scaring me!" Max said "No matter how good he is, we can beat them all as long as we work together! I mean; Now Rex has awakened his inner power and knows how to do the Evolution Slash as well!" He said and grinned at Rex, who nodded quietly.

"Yeah…" He said, looking down on the ground. Ever since they had returned from the last fight, he had tried to figure out what actually happened back then, but just like Max had described it before, it felt just like it had all just come to him after he and Ace returned from that mysterious white place. He couldn't help but feeling that it all still felt very strange…

Ace, who had been sitting right next to Rex on the grass, suddenly made a worried little sound and nudged Rex's hand with his nose. Rex looked down on him and smiled.

"It's all right, Ace, I'm fine…" He said and reached out his hand, stroking him "We all made it through back then, and that's what matters." Ace closed his eyes and gave a low little growl in agreement.

"Yes, both of you know how to do it now…" Zoe murmured "I just wish I could unlock my inner power soon as well…"

"Hey, don't start worrying about that again, Zoe! I mean; Both me and Rex unlocked ours without hardly knowing what we did, you know." Max said encouragingly, and Rex nodded.

"I know…It's just that…The next time we end up having to fight the Ancient Emperors, I might end up a burden to you two unless I don't find it soon…" She murmured.

"Come on, Zoe! That's just crazy talk!" Max said, sounding slightly upset "Inner power or not, we'll still need you to help us out the next time as well!"

"Max is right." Rex said "Just think of all the battles we fought in the past: We wouldn't have won half of them had it not been for you andParishelping us out!" Zoe looked at them in amazement.

"Thanks guys…" She said and smiled gratefully at them "I don't know what I would do without you…"

"Yeah, just forget about that whole inner power-thing and focus on what really matters: Think aboutParis. Your mum and dad. Think about us! The only way you'll ever let us down is if you forget about what's really important, and keeps moping about not finding your inner power and mastering the Evolution Slash…" He stopped and blushed slightly "Sorry, Zoe…" He said quietly "I didn't mean to sound so harsh, I just…" But she just shook her head and smiled at him.

"I'm glad you said that, Max" She said "You're right. I shouldn't worry so much about it…" Suddenly they could hear the door to the house open, and in the next second Marco stepped out through the door, as usual with a distant look on his face, almost as if he had walked out there by accident. The same moment he stepped out into the garden Chomp, who had been lying on the grass next to Max, suddenly perked up and quickly ran up to Marco and began tugging at his jeans with his mouth. Marco quickly noticed him and looked around himself, noticing the group sitting in the shadow of the house. He looked almost surprised over seeing them for some reason…

"Hi Marco…" Zoe said carefully. He didn't say anything, but bent down and picked up Chomp in his arms, and then he walked up to the group, putting Chomp down on the ground next to Max again.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you…" He said "I didn't know you were out here…"

"You're not bothering us!" Max said "Why don't you sit down with us for a while?" And he moved aside, patting the ground beside him. Marco seemed a bit hesitant, but then he nodded and sat down on the grass next to them. No sooner had he sat down before Chomp suddenly jumped up on his lap and laid down, and both Ace and Paris left Rex and Zoe and walked up to him, placing their heads on his lap as well. Marco actually seemed to smile a bit, and he reached out his hands and patted Ace and Paris on the head. They both closed their eyes and gave a pleased little sound.

"Here we go again…" Max said and smiled as well when he realized Chomp had actually fallen asleep in Marco's lap "You know, I'm really starting to wonder how come they've been so fond of you ever since they met you…" He said and turned to Marco.

"Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing…" Zoe said as she looked at Paris as Marco stroke her and Ace again "I'm actually starting to believe that he really must have met them somewhere before losing his memory, just like you said, Max."

"Yes, for some reason I think so to…" Marco replied quietly "But I still can't seem to remember anything about my past…" He said, clutching his head "If only my memory would come back…"

"Speaking of…" Rex said thoughtfully "That dream you mentioned before we fought Juraton...The one with the dark room and mystic voice. You said you thought it was about your past, right? Have you had it anymore ever since?" Marco looked at him.

"Yes…Actually I have it every night, over and over again…" He said quietly "First I really did think that it might be able to tell me something about my past, but now it just makes me confused every time I have it…" He clutched his head again "Just who am I? I really wish I knew…"

"Yeah, it's really sad you had to lose your memory in the first place…" Zoe said quietly. Marco looked at her and suddenly he smiled.

"It could be worse…" He said, sounding a little calmer "Had I not ended up losing my memory, I might not have ended up meeting you guys…So it's not all bad…" He smiled at them again "If you think about it you guys have much worse problems than me…" They all gave him an uncertain look "I heard all about what happened during your trip from your dad…" He said, glancing at Rex "It's really a heavy burden you have to bear…"

"Well…Guess I can't argue with that…" Max murmured. Rex and Zoe didn't say anything, but nodded quietly. None of them said anything for a while.

Suddenly they could hear the door open again, and Dr. Ancient stepped out into the garden. He looked around and quickly noticed Max and the others.

"Excuse me..." He said "Have you kids seen..." Suddenly his eyes fell on Marco sitting there along with them "Ah, there you are, Marco! Do you think you could lend me a hand in the lab again? You would be a really big help…" Marco didn't say anything, but nodded. Ace and Paris seemed to have understood, and they both nudged him gently before walking back to Rex and Zoe. Marco put his hand onto Chomp's back, gently shaking him awake, and then he once again picked him up and placed him back with Max before rising up from the ground. Then he turned to Dr. Ancient and nodded again, and the two of them began walking back towards the house.

"Wonder what your dad might need Marco to do for him…" Max said to Rex as soon as they had closed the door behind them "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Rex replied "Maybe because he's a skilled engineer? He did manage to open up that communication link between the past and the future, and he even managed to take you and Zoe here to the future, so he seems to be pretty good with advanced technology…"

"Yeah, probably…" Max said, then he suddenly yawned "I think I'll head back inside, to…" He said "It's getting late, and I feel pretty tired…" He rose up from the grass.

"Well, I think I'm heading back to." Zoe said and rose from the ground as well.

"Guess I'll join you guys…" Rex said, rising as well, and so they all walked back into the house, closely followed by Chomp, Ace andParis.

"Well, goodnight guys." Zoe said as she walked into her room along withParis"I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, Zoe." Max and Rex said as they walked into their respective rooms accompanied by Chomp and Ace.

* * *

><p>Max quickly changed into his pyjamas and crawled into bed. He looked up into the ceiling and thought for a while: Would the Emperors attack them again soon? Or would they bide their time even more, waiting for the right opportunity? And more than anything he really wanted to know exactly what they were planning…<p>

"Well…" He sighted "I think I'm starting to realize how Marco feels…" Then he turned around in the bed, realizing Chomp had already fallen asleep beside him. He smiled. Maybe he should just forget it all for now and try to get some sleep. After all, he would obviously stand a much better chance against them if he was fully rested. He leaned back against the pillow, closing his eyes, and a few moments later he had fallen asleep.

Max didn't know if he had been sleeping for hours or just a few minutes, when was woken up by a knock on his bedroom door. He looked out through the window. It wasn't quite pitch-black outside, but there was still a clear hint of dark blue in the sky, meaning it was still very early in the morning. The knocking on the door continued, and he groaned as he got out of bed, walking towards the door and opened it. Despite it being pretty dark in the corridor outside his room, he could clearly see two figures standing in the opening. He fumbled for the light switch, and as the room lit up he realized Rex, still wearing his pyjamas, and Zoe, still in her nightgown, was standing in the opening, along with Ace andParis.

"Whasamatter?" Max said sleepily, rubbing his eyes. He heard as little sound down by his feet, and as he looked down he realized Chomp had walked up beside him.

"Haven't you noticed, Max?" Zoe said impatiently and both she and Rex held up their DinoBracers, and Max immediately realized both of them were beeping, and a blinking dot had once again appeared on the screen…

"Another Dinosaur Signal!" Max cried, immediately feeling wide awake "But…" He whirled around and rushed up to his bedside table and picked out his own DinoBracer. Now that he was awake he couldn't really understand how he could have been sleeping without noticing the beeping from the DinoBracer...

"But another Dinosaur Signal…" Zoe said as Max rejoined her and Rex in the opening "Do you think that means…?"

"I don't see what else it could mean…" Max said grimly.

"The Ancient Emperors…" Rex said "Looks like they're up to something again."

"Yeah, but what?" Zoe said worriedly.

"It doesn't matter! Whatever it is we have to get over there and stop them!" Max said, before quickly turning to Rex "So where's the signal coming from?"

"It's from the west side of town" Rex replied "I think it's from the abandoned storage area, so it's not very far from here…"

"Good, then let's get over there! Just a moment..." Max said and closed the door, quickly changing into his ordinary clothes. When he opened the door a moment later Rex and Zoe was standing outside the door in their usual clothes waiting for him.

"All right, let's go!" He said and was about to run off, but before he could turn around he heard something from behind him.

"Max? Is that you?" A voice said in the dark corridor. Max squinted into the darkness. He was certain that he had recognized the voice…

"Rod? Laura?" He said as he opened the door to his still lit bedroom, causing the light to leak out into the corridor, allowing him to see who stood in front of him "What are you doing here?"

"We had to ask you…" Laura said, and Max couldn't help but noticing there was a hint of worry in her voice "Do you know where grandpa and the others might be?"

"Dr. Z?" Zoe asked, slightly surprised, as she stepped up to them "Shouldn't he be in his room sleeping?"

"No, he's not!" Rod said "And not the others either…"

"I thought I heard strange sounds coming from grandpa's room, so I went to see what was going on, but when I got there his bed was empty, so I rushed to Rod's room to wake him up…" Laura said.

"And then we checked Ed, Zander and Ursula's rooms to see if they knew where he could be, but they were gone to. Also" Rod said "The Alpha Scanners were missing, and Terry, Spiny and Tank were gone as well." They all looked at them in surprise.

"Now that's odd…" Max said "They're not exactly the kind to get out of bed this early, huh?"

"Hold on, Max…" Zoe said and looked at her still beeping DinoBracer. Rod and Laura both looked at it.

"Wait, so does that mean another dinosaur's appeared here in the city?" Laura said.

"Yeah, don't you think their Alpha Scanners might have picked up this signal as well?" Zoe said "So maybe they went to investigate the whole thing?"

"But this isn't like the old days of hunting Dinosaur Cards!" Rod said, suddenly sounding frightened "The only way another dinosaur would appear here is if it was sent out by those Ancient Emperors you guys talked about!"

"And those guys are really dangerous and powerful, aren't they?" Laura asked worriedly.

"No joke." Max said bitterly "From what we've seen up till now, those guys could wipe out the whole city in mere moments should they want to…Not to mention what they plan making smash right into Earth…"

"The Reaper…" Rex said "The very meteor that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct…" Both Rod and Laura looked shocked.

"Then we have to find grandpa right away!" Laura cried "We can't let him fight those guys!"

"Yeah, we have to save him!" Rod said. Max, Rex and Zoe all nodded.

"You got it!" Max said, turning towards the rest of the gang "Let's hurry!" And they all rushed off, followed by Chomp, Ace,Paris, Rod and Laura.

* * *

><p>"The signal's getting closer!" Max said as he rushed ahead of Rex and Zoe through the city, with Rod and Laura running right next to him "We're almost there!" He cried back to the others. He looked at his DinoBracer again to ensure they were going the right way when, suddenly, the dot on the screen disappeared!<p>

"Hey, where did it go?" Max cried in surprise and stopped "It just vanished!"

"Did that happen to you to, Max?" Zoe said as she and Rex ran up to Max, Rod and Laura.

"So you lost the signal to?" Max asked them.

"Yeah…" Rex said as he and Zoe held up their DinoBracers before Max, and he saw that the dot had vanished from the screen.

"Does that mean the dinosaur vanished?" Max said and looked around. They were now standing on a large asphalted area, lit up by several street lights, next to a long row of what looked very much like some very old storage buildings. He was pretty sure that the signal had come from around here before it vanished. So what had happened to the dinosaur?

"What if it means there's just been a battle?" Laura said in horror "And what if grandpa…"

"I don't think so…" Rex said as he looked around the area "I can't see any signs of a battle anyway..."

"Grandpa!" Rod called "Ed! Zander! Ursula!" But his words just echoed through the area "Maybe we were wrong and he's not here..." He said as he looked around for any signs of them.

"But where could he be in that case?" Laura asked worriedly.

"Hold on guys, I have an idea!" Zoe said and turned towards the row of storage buildings "Hey! Are you around here, Old Lady?" She called. No sooner had she said it before the door to one of the old warehouses flung open, and suddenly someone came rushing out through the door, closely followed by two others, and with a slightly shorter one following behind. As the four of them came out into the light they could clearly see that it was Ursula, running first with a furious look on her face, followed by Ed and Zander who hung on to her arms, trying to restrain her, with Dr. Z following behind them.

"WHEN WILL YOU LEARN, YOU LITTLE BRAT, THAT I'M NOT AN OLD LADY!" Ursula bellowed as she ran up to Zoe "I OUGHT TO…"

"Looks like that old trick always works..." Rex said, smiling a little as Ed and Zander desperately tried to prevent Ursula from getting to Zoe.

"Yeah, nice one Zoe…" Max said with a little grin "Now we know for sure that they're here. And that they're all right…" Ursula eventually seemed to calm down slightly, and Ed and Zander released their grip of her arms and slumped down on the ground, breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"Grandpa!" Laura cried and rushed up to Dr. Z, hugging him "You're okay!"

"I'm fine…" Dr. Z replied, apparently very surprised over seeing her there "But why are you kids here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Rod said as he stepped up behind Laura "We came here to save you."

"Save me?" Dr. Z repeated in confusion "But I already told you I'm fine…"

"Well, you won't be for long if you just run of without thinking like this…" Zoe said "We just picked up a Dinosaur Signal from here. That's why you guys came here in the first place, right?"

"Indeed" Dr. Z replied "As soon as we noticed it, we knew we had to head here to investigate…"

"But don't you realize it could be those Ancient Emperors again?" Rex said incredulously "And if so, they'd wipe you out in an instant should you run into them! You guys wouldn't stand a chance!"

"That's exactly what we tried to tell him…" Ursula said darkly.

"But do you think he listened to us?" Zander sighted.

"I think the fact that we're here in the first place answers that question…" Ed said.

"Put a cork in it!" Dr. Z snapped as he whirled around towards them, then turning back towards Rod and Laura "You see…I just thought we'd…"

"Grandpa…Sometimes you're just so hopeless…" Rod said and sighted. Dr. Z didn't say anything, but just stubbornly looked the other way.

"Well, at least nothing bad happened to you guys." Max said as he stepped up to them along with Rex and Zoe "And if that dinosaur really isn't here anymore, maybe we can all go…"

"Go? I don't think so…" A cold voice said from behind him. They all whirled around, looking wildly for who had been speaking.

"Who's there?" Max cried, but at the same time he couldn't help but feeling there was something familiar with that voice…

"Do you even need to ask?" Another voice said, and almost immediately they could hear someone giggling…

"Is it…?" Rod said as he and Laura stepped closer to them.

"No doubt…" Rex said darkly "I know that giggle anywhere…"

Before anyone of them could say anything else, three figures suddenly stepped out from the shadow of the nearby buildings. And as they walked out into the light they could see that they all wore white cloaks with a red Tyrannosaurs-skull emblem on their chests…

"Long time no see…" Creaton said coldly as he removed his hood, staring coldly at Max.

"Have you missed me?" Juraton said sarcastically as he removed his hood as well, giggling maniacally as his eyes fell on Rex.

Triaton, on the other hand, didn't say anything as he removed his hood, but just eyed the group quietly with his one grey eye…

"So it was you guys after all?" Zoe said angrily as she felt Triaton's eye at her "You're the ones behind that signal from before, right?" Creaton smiled evilly at her.

"Of course it was. What did you insects expect?" He said coldly.

"And they're not the only ones!" Another voice suddenly called, and before anyone could say anything three familiar figures suddenly swept down from the sky.

"Oh yeah, I remember…" Max said thought gritted teeth "You're still working for them…"

"That's right! And it looks like all the waiting is finally paying of!" Gavro said.

"Yeah, and it looks like there's a lot more spectators here than we thought!" Foolscap said.

"Looks like that plan of yours worked better than expected…" Sheer said with a look at Triaton. Just like back then his wrinkled face curled into a smile as he once again looked at the group.

"Indeed…" He said with his deep, dark voice "I would have thought that only the children would notice the signs…But now all of the Stones lie just within our reached…" His eye suddenly seemed to sparkle with a menacing glow "Today is the day…" He said "When the Reaper becomes ours to command…The day when Earth will be reborn..."


	22. One step closer

Chapter 22:

"No way!" Max shouted "We're not going to let that happen! Your plan to destroy Earth using that Reaper-meteor will never succeed!" Triaton let his grey eye rest on Max's furious face. And suddenly a hint of what looked almost like amusement appeared in it…

"And still you all came here…" He said with his deep, dark voice "And because of that, all the Stones now lie within our reach…Don't you see? There is no stopping what must happen now…"

"You can't fool us!" Rex said angrily "You know that as long as we keep the Stones from falling into your hands you'll never be able to achieve your insane goal!"

"And we already told you you're not getting them!" Zoe shouted "Not now, not ever!"

Triaton just eyed the three of them without saying anything.

"If only you knew…" He said at last "If you just knew…You would beg us to accept the Stones…And allow the Wrath of the Reaper to purify this contaminated world…"

"Oh yeah? You seriously expect us to believe that?" Max said "Forget it! The Stones stays right here!"

Suddenly Creaton stepped forward, pulling out his sword.

"I don't believe our words will make any difference…" He said with a menacing smirk "I think we all know there's only one way to settle this. Only one way to find out which side will shape the future of this world, and which side that is to perish…"

"No doubt we do!" Max said "It's time to end this once and for all! You creeps need to be stopped before you get the chance to go any further!" Creaton's smirk grew wider.

"I can't deny I've been waiting for this…" He said, his voice colder than ever "So let's not waste any more time. And the first one to fall will be…You." And as he spoke he raised his sword, pointing it towards the group. Max was just about to turn Chomp back into a card, when he realized the point of the black sword wasn't pointing at him, Rex and Zoe, like he thought. Instead it was pointing at…

"Who? Us?" Ed, Zander and Ursula said in unison, sounding clearly frightened.

"That's right." Creaton said, smiling evilly again "Now let's begin…"

"Now wait just a minute!" Max said "We're the ones you're after, right? So just leave them out of this!" Creaton shot him another cold stare.

"It is true that we have a score to settle…" He said coldly to Max "But you are on the other hand wrong that you and your friends are our only target: It may be beyond my comprehension how these pathetic insects ended up getting their hands on them, but they do posses the other three Stones that are needed for our plans completion. This makes them as much a prey to us as you. Also…" Creaton's smile grew wider "From what we've seen them perform so far, they are obviously the weakest link of the chain which means that once they're out of our way we can focus our entire attention on…"

"Hey! This time you've gone too far you cloaked brat!" Dr. Z suddenly cried "Seeking to destroy the world is one thing, but I won't tolerate you looking down on me! I'm the Dinosaur King!" Creaton looked mockingly at him.

"Just how long do you plan to keep that joke going, you useless little bug?" He said coldly "It's getting really old…"

"Yeah, and besides" Juraton suddenly said while giggling "He wasn't really mocking you; he was just telling you the truth! However…" He said, turning to Creaton "I must say this is really odd…Usually all you care about is crushing all in your path without a single care. Now you speak of getting rid of the weak before focusing your attention on the real enemy! Did I miss something here?" Creaton looked coldly at him.

"All I want is for all the worthless vermin to be out of the way before I get the chance to make that brat pay for my last defeat at his hands…" And once again his eyes fell on Max "I want to savour my revenge…Every…Little…Bit…"

"Oh, then it makes sense!" Juraton said sarcastically "That was a least said embarrassing loss on your part, after all!" And he began giggling maniacally. Creaton's face suddenly got a furious look, and he growled as he turned towards Juraton.

"Look who's talking." He said with ice-cold anger in his eyes "Last time I checked you got beaten pretty miserably by that other brat when making an attempt for the Stones" And he cast a cold stare on Rex "Now that's pathetic…" Juraton immediately stopped giggling, and turned towards Creaton, clearly angered.

"Well, at least I…" He started.

"That's enough…" Triaton suddenly interrupted as he stepped in between them "Those past defeats means nothing…The only thing that matters is who stands victorious in the end…" Both Creaton and Juraton grew quiet, turning towards him "And once we are…The world will finally return to its past glory…" He said.

"I've had just about enough of this!" Dr. Z suddenly said furiously "Not only do you have the nerve to look down on me, but you even dare to turn your backs on me! It's time for you to know who you're dealing with! Alpha Slash! Blaze, Tyrannosaurus!" He cried, swiping the card. And in a blaze of red light Terry appeared in his full form, letting out a loud roar.

"How annoying…" Creaton said as he looked coldly at them "Is there no end to your foolishness, you worthless insect?"

"Well, even an insect can deliver a pretty painful sting!" Dr. Z said "Now bring it!" Creaton gave him another cold stare. Then he sighted.

"Wasting my breath on such a low-life…" He said coldly "But it would appear you still need a reality check…"

"If it really is too much of an annoyance to you, why don't you leave that fool and his flunkies to us?" Sheer said to Creaton "We'll have them out of your way in no time!" Creaton turned away from Dr. Z and instead turned towards Sheer. An evil smile once again spread across his face.

"Well, I'll be…" He said "Looks like you've turned out to be more useful than I thought…You have free hands, my friend…"

"Hold on" Gavro said "I thought we came here so that we could get a crack at those kids, so why do we have to…?"

"Haven't you been paying attention?" Foolscap said "Those brats have somehow grown strong enough to lay a smack down even on our new bosses. There's no telling what they'll do to us if we were to take a crack at them…"

"Yeah, and let's not forget" Sheer said, looking towards Dr. Z "That that little man and his three clowns got in our way more than one time too many back then… Picking them off seems like a more than good enough start for me!"

"Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right…" Gavro said and then turned to Creaton "All right, we'll take care of them, just don't forget we want a piece of those kids once this is all over!" Creaton smiled evilly again.

"Don't you worry about it." He said "Once we're through with them you'll get your chance at payback. Of course, I can't guarantee they'll all be unharmed by then…"

"So much better then." Sheer said as the three pirates turned towards Dr. Z and the others.

"So in order to get to the cloaked brat I need to get past you first, huh?" Dr. Z said "Fine! I've been waiting to take a crack at you birdbrains as well!"

"Hey, don't get all reckless here!" Rex called "Those three may not be as strong as those Ancient Emperors, but they're more than strong enough to give you some serious trouble! There's no way you can beat them like this!"

"Yeah, it's too dangerous!" Rod called, and Zoe nodded.

"That's for sure…" She said "Had it not been for Black Crystal showing up back when they first showed up, there's no telling what they would have done to Paris…"

"Be smart and stay back!" Max shouted "Just let me and Rex deal with them! If we use the Evolution Slash we can get them out of the way in no time!"

"Are you telling me I should just stand down when that cloaked brat is making fun of me?" Dr. Z snapped "We will take these birdbrains down, and nothing you say is going to stop us!"

"Hold on…" Ursula said, slowly starting to move away from him "When you say "we" you're not referring to the three of us, right?"

"I don't see who else he might mean…" Ed said.

"I was afraid it would come to this…" Zander said.

"Of course I mean you three!" Dr. Z said impatiently "Now hurry up and get over here! And bring Spiny and Tank!" The three of them exchanged dark looks, and then they slowly walked up to him.

"Don't do it!" Max cried "You already know what's going to happen if you lose! Those creeps will take your Stone Plates, bringing them one step closer to control that Reaper-meteor! And that would mean the end of us and Earth as we know it! Remember?" Dr. Z turned towards them with a confident grin on his face.

"Don't you worry about a thing! I'll show you all that this old man still has it in him! We're going to take these three birds back down on Earth!"

"He's already made up his mind…" Laura said, sounding very depressed "And that means there's no changing it…"

"No need to worry! Did you really think I came all the way out here without being prepared for this?" No one said anything.

"Never mind…" He muttered.

"Um, hate to interrupt, but I'm sick of waiting for you to finish talking, so I'm just gonna go ahead and smash you all up! Come out, Gigas!" Gavro called, placing the card to his chest. The Spectral Tyrannosaurus immediately appeared in front of Dr. Z and the Alpha Gang, letting out a deafening roar "Spectral Lancer!" And in the next second large, spear-like spikes jutted out from the spikes on the Spectral Tyrannosaurus's armour, and it quickly began running towards Terry. Ed, Zander and Ursula cringed in fear as it approached them, but Dr. Z seemed perfectly calm…

"All right, here I come! Element Booster! DinoTector on!" He cried, armouring up Terry "Ultimate Fire!" Dr. Z called, swiping the card. Intense fames immediately enveloped Terry, and he rushed straight at Gigas.

"Don't do it!" Laura cried "There's no way you can win against them with…" But before she could finish, the two dinosaurs smashed right into each other. There was a blinding flash of light, and the force of the impact sent both Terry and Gigas skidding backwards. Both of the Tyrannosaurus's let out a loud roar, but none of them seemed to be injured. Everyone stared in shock.

"Hey, what just happened?" Max said incredulously "Just now…It was almost like they were evenly matched…"

"Didn't I tell you there was nothing to worry about?" Dr. Z said confidently waving his Alpha Scanner in front of them "It might not be visible on the outside, but our Element Boosters now packs twice the power from before! Giving us just the edge we needed to win this fight!"

"That's incredible, doctor!" Ursula said, seemingly forgetting all her fears "Why didn't you tell us from the very beginning?"

"Well, maybe because you were busy standing there shivering like little kids?" Dr. Z said.

"That's amazing!" Zander exclaimed "I can't believe we ever doubted you, doctor!"

"You really did know what you were doing all along!" Ed said. Dr. Z nodded, obviously pleased over their praise.

"Guess those kids aren't the only ones to have powered up…" Gavro growled.

"Don't bother! They were lucky, that's all!" Foolscap said "Let's see how they do against my dino! Armatus!" He said, placing the card to his headband.

"Yeah, and don't forget this one! Maximus!" Sheer said, placing the card to her necklace. And in the next second the Spectral Stegosaurus and Triceratops appeared in front of the three pirates.

"Now that we know we can deal with them we won't have to run!" Zander said "Alpha Slash! Gush out, Spinosaurus!" He cried, slashing the card.

"Yeah, we can do this! Alpha Slash! Shake them up, Saichania!" Ed cried, slashing the card.

And in a flash of blue and purple light both Spiny and Tank appeared in their full forms.

"Element Booster! DinoTector on, go!" They both cried in unison, armouring up Spiny and Tank.

"It's on now! Spectral Stinger!" Foolscap called.

"And if you think that's good, wait till you see this! Spectral Punisher!" Sheer called. Large spikes jutted out from the Spectral Stegosaurus's back, while long spikes jutted out from each of the Spectral Triceratops's horns.

"Ultimate Water!" Zander called.

"Ultimate Earth!" Ed called.

Purple crystals surrounded Tank as she rushed towards the Spectral Stegosaurus as it sent a barrage of needles flying towards her. She was able to dodge most of the needles, and those that managed to hit her were quickly repelled by the crystals surrounding her. In the next second she rammed right into Armatus, sending him skidding backwards and he crashed into a nearby building, and the Spectral Stegosaurus struggled to stand back up. Spiny rushed towards Maximus, enveloped by a veil of water, just as the Spectral Triceratops fired an intense beam of light towards him. The beam hit him, but the water surrounding him seemed to be pushing the beam back, and even though he was slowed down, he was still able to keep going towards it. The beam suddenly dispersed and at the same time the veil of water surrounding Spiny dispersed as well. Spiny quickly rushed at the Spectral Triceratops, biting onto its frill. It roared out loud and rose up on its hind legs, and managed to throw Spiny off, sending him flying through the air. Spiny was able to land steadily on his feet, but Maximus seemed to be panting slightly from the struggle…

"These new Boosters are outstanding!" Zander said as he turned towards Dr. Z.

"They're more than that! They're fabulous!" Ed said. Dr. Z nodded, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Well that's to be expected, isn't it?" He said "After all, they're the results of my tireless work for days and nights!" Rod and Laura suddenly got a sceptical look on their faces.

"Tireless work for days and nights?" Laura repeated "But every time I've gone to bed the past two weeks, you've always been in your room sleeping. Well, judging from the way you were snoring, anyways…"

"And just last night I heard Rex's dad talking to that Marco guy who brought Max and Zoe here" Rod said "And he said that it was thanks to him he could finish the upgrades on your Boosters…" Dr. Z suddenly got as stiff, guilty look on his face.

"So basically you had them upgrade the Boosters for you, and as thanks you try to hog the credit for their work?" Zoe said, sounding slightly disgusted.

"Well, I'm not too surprised…" Max said with a raised eyebrow "Guess what Seth said back then still holds true…"

"Hey, who asked you?" Dr. Z snapped, but despite trying to pretend Max's words simply angered him, the guilty look still on his face betrayed him…

"Is that really true, doctor?" Ursula said.

"Isn't taking credit for someone else's work quite a bad thing to do?" Zander asked.

"And aren't kings supposed to be honourable and honest?" Ed said.

"Would you three shut your mouths?" Dr. Z cried impatiently "What matters is we have them, so let's just focus on the fight at hand!"

Meanwhile the three Emperors had once again stepped back into the shadows, quietly watching the battle.

"My, my, is this really all right?" Juraton said, turning towards Triaton "If those three pawns of Creaton's were to lose it could make getting those Stones quite the problem… Especially if those kids should decide to lend that funny little man and his flunkies a hand!" Triaton just eyed him with his dark, grey eye.

"There's no need to rush…We'll join this battle when the time is right, also…" He said, gazing towards the still dark horizon "Let's not forget…We still lack one important piece for the plan…"

"And even if those three should happen to lose somehow" Creaton said, as he gazed towards the battle field "We don't have to bother about it: I've already prepared for that outcome…"

The battle between Terry, Spiny and Tank and the three Spectral Dinosaurs continued, and the more it went on the more did it appear like the battling dinosaurs were more or less equal in strength. Despite this, the Alpha Dinosaurs seemed to slowly gain an edge over their opponents: Armatus tried swiping at tank with his spiked tail, but Tank quickly replied with a powerful blow from her tail club, once again sending the Spectral Stegosaurs skidding backwards. Gigas once again tried hitting Terry with a Spectral Lancer-attack, but Terry was able to jump out of the way just in the nick of time, resulting in the Spectral Tyrannosaurus's lances instead dug deep into the stone wall Terry had been standing in front of, and it struggled desperately to pull them out, giving Terry the perfect opportunity to swipe it with his tail, basically knocking Gigas's feet away from under him, making him crash to the ground. Meanwhile Spiny managed to get behind Maximus, and was able to sink his teeth in the Spectral Triceratops's back, once again causing it to roar in pain as it tried desperately to shake him off.

"Wow…" Max said as he gazed upon the Alpha Gang and their dinosaurs "Whatever your dad and Marco did to their boosters, it sure seemed to do wonders for them!"

"Yeah, but to think that Marco actually had knowledge of such things…" Rex said thoughtfully "Now I know for sure there's something unusual about him…"

"Well, from the looks of things that might just be a good thing!" Laura said, suddenly sounding more hopeful, and Rod nodded in agreement.

"This means we might just be able to prevent those creeps from getting any of their Stones!" Zoe said hopefully "If they can just beat those three, we can just step in to deal with those Emperors, and stop them from getting any Stones at all!"

"Yeah…" Max said, suddenly sounding troubled "Let's just hope those guys stays quiet until this is all over…And knowing them there's a high risk they've got some kind of dirty trick up their sleeves…" And he looked towards the three Emperors. Suddenly Creaton looked his way as well, and even though there was quite the distance between them he could have sworn he could see that he had something sinister in his cold eyes…

At the battlefield Terry, Spiny and Tank still fought against the three Spectral Dinosaurs, and it was clear that Gigas, Armatus and Maximus was slowly but surely starting to tire.

"Looks like they're finally weakening!" Ed cried.

"If we can just give them a few more pushes we'll win!" Zander shouted excitedly.

"So let's not waste any time here!" Dr. Z said "Let's give it to them…!" But before he could finish a loud voice suddenly drowned his words.

"Spectral Destroy!" And in the next second there was a huge flash of light, and Terry, Spiny and Tank was sent crashing to the ground.

"Hey! What was…?" Dr. Z shouted in shock as the three dinosaurs struggled to stand back up when, suddenly, the outlines of something huge suddenly towered up from amongst the nearby buildings, and almost immediately they could hear someone humming…

"I should have known…" Max growled, clenching his fists, and in the next second a fourth winged creature swooped down besides the three pirates.

"It's good to be back." Spectre said as he landed in front of the others pirates "And it feels good to finally get some payback on those meddling humans, right, Bronte-kins?" He said as he turned to the Spectral Apatosaurus now towering over Dr. Z and the Alpha Gang. Juraton looked at Creaton.

"So this is what you meant when you said you had it all under control?" He said with a giggle "I didn't expect you to actually have a back-up plan in store!"

"We should not be surprised…" Triaton said as he turned his grey eye on Juraton "Creaton might lack the skill and power that we posses…But when it comes to manipulating his pawns he has no equal…" Creaton gave an evil smirk before turning to the four pirates.

"Now's you chance!" He called "Finish them!"

"Now that boss is here there's no way we can lose to these guys! Spectral Lancer!" Gavro called.

"Time to end this! With Spectral Stinger!" Foolscap called.

"This is our first step towards revenge! Spectral Punisher!" Sheer called.

Gigas rushed towards Terry, who just had managed to stand back up after the crushing blow from the Spectral Apatosaurus, and this time the Spectral Tyrannosaurs were able to catch him between its lances. It rushed towards the nearby wall again, slamming Terry into it, and as it pulled out the lances from the wall, Terry slumped to the ground and turned back into a card. Tank, who also just had managed to stand back up, began running desperately in order to avoid the barrage of needles the Spectral Stegosaurus sent flying towards her. She roared out loud as the needles hit her and in a flash of light she turned back into a card as well. Spiny had barely managed to stand back up when the beam sent by the Spectral Triceratops hit him right in the centre of his body. He was thrown backwards and fell crashing to the ground, and in the next second he turned back into a card.

"Oh well, that's that…" Creaton said with an evil smirk.

"No!" Ed, Zander and Ursula cried and quickly rushed over to pick up the cards. Dr. Z looked furiously at the four Spectral Dinosaurs standing in front of him when Creaton suddenly stepped up in front of him.

"Well…It looks like the King ended up having to surrender his crown …" He said with an evil smile "Now to take those Stones of yours…"

"Get out of there, guys!" Laura cried "Don't let them get you!"

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Ursula said as she quickly started running towards them.

"You don't even have to tell me at all!" Zander cried.

"Wait for me!" Ed cried in horror.

"Hey! Get back here!" Dr. Z called after them "There's no way we're running from these creeps!"

Suddenly Triaton raised his hand, placing it onto the metal plate covering his eye while closing his visible eye. As he opened his eye again, it almost immediately lit up with a dim purple light. Then he suddenly pointed his other hand towards Ed, Zander and Ursula, and almost immediately they stopped running as the purple light suddenly surrounded them. Triaton then slowly raised his hand again, and in the same moment he did, their feet slowly left the ground as the three of them floated up into the air.

"Hey, just what is this?" Ursula cried as she struggled to get her feet back onto the ground but the strange light surrounding her seemed to prevent her from moving at all.

"I don't know, but I definitely don't like it!" Zander replied.

"I'm scared!" Ed said in terror. Suddenly the light around them changed colour from purple to crimson red, and then it suddenly transferred to their Alpha Scanners, causing Ed, Zander and Ursula to fall back down on the ground. Even the Scanner in Dr. Z's hands began glowing in the same way, and Triaton once again moved his hand, and in the next second the Scanners flew out of their hands, and floated over to him, stopping in mid-air. The light then vanished, but the Scanners still remained afloat when, suddenly, the hatches on them opened up, and the Water, Fire and Earth-Stone fell down on the ground in front of Triaton.

Max and the others stared in shock as Triaton stepped forward, reaching out his hand, and almost immediately the Stones slowly floated up into the air, and he grabbed them, placing them into his cloak.

"Three of the Stones are now in our possession…" Triaton said as his wrinkled face once again curled into a smile "The long awaited hour of rebirth is just a few moments away…"

"I can't believe it…" Max said through gritted teeth "I can't believe this actually happened…"

"They actually did it…They actually got three of the Stones already…" Zoe said, clenching her fists.

"This is bad…Really bad..." Rex said, clenching his fists as well "We have to stop them!"


	23. The beginning of the end

Chapter 23:

Creaton suddenly took his eyes off of Dr. Z, and instead looked towards Max and the others. Ed, Zander and Ursula, who had just stood back up after being dropped back down by whatever mysterious force Triaton had used on them earlier, cringed in fear and quickly ran up behind Max, Rex, Zoe, Rod and Laura.

"P-Please…" Ursula stuttered "Don't hurt us…"

"Yeah, we promise not to bother you again…" Zander said in horror.

"Please spare us…" Ed stuttered. Creaton just stared coldly at them and then he suddenly pulled out his sword again, walking up to the still floating Alpha Scanners from which Triaton had extracted the Fire, Water and Earth-Stone just a few moments ago. Then he raised his sword, hitting the Scanners with the blunt side of the blade, causing them to fall towards the ground. He grabbed all three of them in his free hand, and then he tossed them towards the group. The Scanners landed a few feet away from the group, and slid on the ground, finally stopping in front of them.

"Go ahead, take them back." Creaton said coldly as Ed, Zander and Ursula bent down to pick them up, all with frightened and confused looks on their faces "We have no need for those worthless toys. Now would you be so kind to get out of my sight, you worthless insects? You're presence is bothersome…" The three of them just nodded in terror, slowly backing away.

"Now then…" Creaton said as he turned towards Max "With that garbage now out of the way, how about we get down to what we all really came here for…?"

"Now wait just a minute!" Dr. Z suddenly cried "In case you haven't noticed I'm still right here in front of you! So why don't you deal with me first of all?"

"Grandpa! Don't!" Laura cried "You've lost the fight and they've taken all three of your Stones! There's nothing more you can do! Just get out of there, grandpa!"

"The girl speaks the truth." Creaton said with a mocking look in his cold eyes "Without the Stones you, with your inferior power, have no way of calling a dinosaur out to battle, and even if you could" He continued as a fiendish smile spread across his face "You should have realized there's no possible way for you to defeat us. You weren't even able to defeat my servants…"

"Is that so?" Dr. Z snapped back "At least I didn't sit back and watched as my "servants" did all the work, you cloaked coward!" Creaton just looked coldly at him.

"I think I'll make an exception this time around..." He said coldly "I see now that waiting for the Reaper to clear your foolishness off the face of the Earth would be a mistake..." And he turned towards the Space Pirates "Go ahead. Make him disappear…" Creaton said coldly before walking up beside Triaton again.

"You can just leave that to me and Gigas!" Gavro said "Smash him up!" And the Spectral Tyrannosaurus immediately rushed up in front of Dr. Z, barring its teeth and letting out a loud roar as it towered over him.

"N-Nice dinosaur..." Dr. Z stuttered. It was clear that standing face to face with the Spectral Dinosaur, without any means of fighting back, had robbed him of all his former confidence as well as leaving him paralyzed with fear, completely unable to move.

"This is bad!" Rod said, quickly turning towards Max, Rex and Zoe "You have to help him!"

"No kidding." Max said, turning towards Rex and Zoe "Let's go, guys!" They both nodded and Max was just about to turn Chomp back into a card when the Spectral Tyrannosaurus suddenly opened its jaws up wide, obviously preparing to swallow Dr. Z whole. From the looks of things there was just no way they'd be able to make it…There was no way they'd be able to stop the Spectral Tyrannosaurus in time…

But just as the Spectral Tyrannosaurus was about to clamp its jaws around Dr. Z, something suddenly came flying through the air, hitting the Spectral Dinosaur head on. There was a sharp white flash, almost immediately followed by an explosion, and the Spectral Tyrannosaurus was instantly sent flying backwards and crashed to the ground. As the group stared in surprise, another dinosaur suddenly rushed past Max, and up to Dr. Z; a black and green dinosaur with scales shimmering like crystals…

It quickly opened its jaws and grabbed Dr. Z by the hem of his coat, before quickly turning around and running back towards the group.

"Nanotyrannus…" Max said, staring at the shimmering dinosaur as it stopped in front of them, Dr. Z still hanging from its mouth "If that means what I think it means…"

"That was close." A voice said from behind them "For a moment I though I was too late." Max whirled around, and in front of him stood a figure wearing a black cloak…

"Black Crystal!" He cried joyously "Way to go! Thanks a lot!"

"Yeah, you really showed up at the right time!" Rex said as he and Zoe walked up to him as well. The Nanotyrannus lowered its head and opened its jaws, dropping the obviously surprised and overwhelmed doctor back down on the ground.

"Grandpa! You're okay!" Laura cried and rushed up to him along with Rod. He still seemed quite taken aback from suddenly being pulled out of danger the way he had been, but it was clear that he hadn't been harmed.

"Yeah, for a moment we thought you were done for!" Rod said, as both he and Laura hugged him tightly. Upon realizing he was out of danger, Ed, Zander and Ursula had rushed up to them as well, obviously overjoyed over seeing that he was still all right.

"Oh, doctor, we're so glad you're all right!" Ursula cried in joy.

"Yeah, cause for a moment we thought you were...You know...Done for, finished..." Zander said, sounding very relieved.

"Well, it's a good thing you weren't." Ed said. It appeared as if Dr. Z's former confidence had returned to him, now that he was no longer threatened, and a confident grin spread across his face.

"What did you numbskulls expect?" He said "Of course I wasn't done for! Have you already forgotten? I'm the Dinosaur King!"

"Hey, you do realize you might not have made it had it not been for him?" Zoe said, nodding towards Black Crystal. Max, Rex, Rod and Laura all nodded in agreement. Dr. Z looked quite uncomfortable hearing this.

"Well...Um...I mean...Thanks for the help..." Dr. Z said with an obviously pretended grateful smile towards Black Crystal. Black Crystal just nodded shortly, and then he turned towards Max, Rex and Zoe again.

"It looks like you've got quite a bit on you hands." He said, sounding very serious "Just what's going on? I know things have developed quickly, but are they really making their final move already?"

"Well..." Max said "You see..." And they quickly explained about the signals they had detected, and how they had all followed it here and encountered the Emperors, and how Dr. Z and the others had ended up battling the Space Pirates, and the outcome of the battle...

"I see..." Black Crystal said once they had stopped, again sounding very serious "So that means three of the Stones has already fallen into their hands..." For a moment he was completely silent "If only I had arrived a bit sooner..." He said.

"Don't worry!" Max said "Even if they have those Stones now, there's no way they'll be able to claim our Stones that easily! We'll never let them gain control over the Rea..."

Before he could finish, Black Crystal suddenly whirled around, raising his hand. The Nanotyrannus quickly rushed past the group, and in the next second there was a loud roar, and Max immediately realized that Gigas had risen back to his feet after being hit by the Nanotyrannus's attack earlier, and had instantly made an attempt to charge at the group. The Nanotyrannus rammed right into the centre of the Spectral Tyrannosaurus's body, sending it skidding backwards. The group quickly turned around as the four pirates landed in front of them, closely followed by their dinosaurs.

"Hey, I remember you!" Sheer said "You sure messed things up for us back then!"

"Yeah, you sure did." Gavro said.

"So I guess we'll just have to teach you what happens when you mess with us!" Foolscap said

"And with all I've heard about you, me and Bronte-kins are really itching to play with you!" Spectre said. Max was just about to say something when Black Crystal suddenly stepped up in front of him, looking straight towards the pirates and the dinosaurs towering over him.

"If you knew what's good for you, you'd stop this madness at once." He said "Your actions will do nothing but bring forth the destruction of everything. Including you..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sheer said irritably. Black Crystal just looked towards them without saying a word. The Nanotyrannus stepped up in front of the Spectral Dinosaurs, as if to say it was ready for battle...

"Enough..." A voice suddenly said. The pirates, who had just been about to unleash their dinosaurs whirled around, quickly realizing that it had been Triaton who had spoken "You have done all we asked you to do..." He said with his deep, dark voice as he stepped up in front of them "Now withdraw and await our next command..."

"What are you talking about?" Spectre said, sounding clearly enraged "If we can only get him out of the way, the path to those kids and the last of the Stones will be..."

"If you battle him...You will not make it out unharmed..." Triaton interrupted, casting a sharp glare at him.

"Come on!" Sheer said "We already know he's tough, but surely against all four of us..."

"You're underestimating him..." Triaton interrupted her, suddenly sounding threatening again "That man is the reason to the defeats we have suffered at the hands of those children..." The four pirates immediately got a shocked look on their faces and looked quickly from Max, Rex and Zoe to Black Crystal, and then back at Triaton.

"Yes..." He said "Seeing as how the power they have utilized during those battles cannot possibly be taught...They most certainly discovered the key to unlocking it themselves...But there is little doubt that he is the one who lead them onto the right trail..."

"No wonder he ended up causing us that much trouble back then..." Gavros said.

"And now it makes sense he came rushing to help those kids..." Foolscap said.

"Perhaps we really should retreat and let them do the rest." Sheer said.

"That is just what I wanted to hear..." Triaton said as a grin once again spread across his wrinkled face "Your part in this battle is over for now...We will make sure the three remaining Stones ends up were they belong...So that we can finally achieve our goal..."

"But what about your promise?" Spectre said, sounding clearly reluctant over the thought of leaving "You said we'd get our revenge on..."

"Haven't you been listening?" Creaton suddenly said as he stepped up in front of the pirates, followed by Juraton "There is no need for you to worry about losing your chance for revenge. This is not like back then, there is no need for any further preparations now: This really _is_ the beginning of the end..."

"Indeed..." Triaton said "Now go...And wait...The time for your final vengeance is close..." The four pirates looked at the three Emperors for short while. Then they all smiled evilly, just like last time, and called their dinosaurs back to their cards, before taking off from the ground.

"Looks like it's goodbye for now!" Spectre said, blinking at the group.

"But we'll be back once our new bosses are done with you!" Gavro said.

"And once they are you're going to pay for getting in the way for us back then!" Sheer said.

"And you better believe that won't be fun for you!" Foolscap added. And soon they were all out of sight.

"Very well…" Triaton said, once again turning towards Max and the others "Looks like the long awaited time is here at last…All the pieces are gathered…And the remaining Stones are just within our reach..." And his one, grey eye suddenly fell on Black Crystal.

"Knowing what will happen should you get your way, turning my back on this battle would be the same as turning my back at the world." Black Crystal said "Even if my own power won't be enough to put a stop to it..."

"Hold on" Max said, turning towards Black Crystal with a puzzled look on his face "How did he know you're the one who told us about the Evolution Slash and our inner power?" Black Crystal turned towards him.

"I don't know." He said "But for some reason he did..."

"Are you quite done?" Creaton said coldly as he raised his sword once again, reaching into his cloak "I believe it's about time for us to settle things once and for all!" And he pulled out a card from his cloak, swiping it along the blade of his sword. There was a flash of red light, and in the next second the Giganotosaurus appeared in front of them, letting out a deafening roar.

"And don't think I plan on missing out on the fun!" Juraton said while giggling as he held out his left arm. In the next second the cloak ripped as a clear blue shield protruded from his arm. He quickly reached into his cloak and pulled out a card, immediately placing it upon the blue gem in the centre of the shield. There was a flash of blue light, and as it cleared the gigantic Brachiosaurus towered over the group. Creaton looked coldly at Juraton.

"You better not get in my way, brat." He said coldly "That kid is mine…" And his cold eyes fell on Max.

"Really?" Juraton said sarcastically "Not that I care, but seeing as how you're such a low-rank, I might have to stay next to you all the time so that you won't get hurt!"

"What did you say?" Creaton said angrily.

"You know it's true!" Juraton said while giggling "But now that I think about it, I'll probably be too busy dealing with that other kid to look after you!" He said, casting a look at Rex. Creaton growled, taking a step towards him.

"Enough…" Triaton said as he stepped in between them with a sharp look in his eye "Unless you want to repeat your previous defeats…You better settle your differences now...Is that understood?" The two of them instantly took a step back, once again seeming almost frightened.

"It looks like things are about to get pretty nasty here…" Max said, turning towards the rest of the group "You guys better get out of here!" Rod and Laura both nodded and Ed, Zander and Ursula immediately turned away from them and started running back towards the city.

"Guess we've done all we can!" Ursula called as she ran "Good luck!"

"Don't worry! We know you can do it!" Zander called back at them.

"Yeah, cause otherwise we're all done for!" Ed cried as he tried to catch up to the other two. Dr. Z seemed reluctant to leaving, but as Rod and Laura both gave him a stern look, it seemed like he too realized it would be better to leave this battle to Max and the others. But as he ran after Rod and Laura back towards the city he turned around towards the group.

"You better not mess this up!" He cried back at them "If these cloaked creeps manage to destroy the world I'll never be the Dinosaur King!" Rod and Laura both sighted, and pushed him hard in the back, urging him to keep running. And soon they were out of sight as well.

"Guess that's his way of saying good luck..." Max shrugged.

"Yeah, probably..." Zoe said.

"Are you quite finished?" Creaton suddenly said coldly. The group turned towards him, seeing that he now stood side by side with Juraton, and the Giganotosaurus once again gave a loud roar and the Brachiosaurus stared down at them with its sharp, red eyes.

"Yeah, cause we're rearing to go!" Juraton said with a giggle. Triaton, however, seemed to be slowly backing away from them. Then he stopped in front of one of the old storage buildings, and suddenly he made a leap, jumping up on the roof of the building.

"Guess he's planning to sit this one out..." Max said.

"Yeah, I wonder if he has something planned for us..." Rex said thoughtfully.

"This is not the time to worry about that." Black Crystal said seriously "We have to focus our attention on what's in front of us right now..."

"Yeah, you're right..." Max said "So let's…" He interrupted himself as a feeling of uneasiness suddenly struck him: Back when he had awakened his inner power and mastered the Evolution Slash, it had all just come to him in the heat of battle. But now that he finally stood here, he had no idea how he would do it again. He cast an uncertain look at Rex, and realized he too had a slight look of uncertainty in his eyes as he held his hand just above his DinoBracer…

"Hey, what's the matter guys?" Zoe asked worriedly.

"It's just…" Max started, but before he could finish Black Crystal suddenly put a hand on his shoulder.

"There is no need for you to doubt in yourself. Remember what I said back when I first taught you about the Evolution Slash and your inner power: No matter how it happens, as soon as it is awakened it will always be with you. All you need to do now is to feel it…" Max looked at him in surprise, then he suddenly felt something pinching his leg and looked down. Chomp was biting on his left leg, as if trying to get his attention. At the same time Ace began nudging Rex's leg, and he looked down on him. In the moment he met Chomp's eyes, a strange feeling ran through Max: It was as if all other sounds around him had suddenly grown dim and unclear, and instead he could hear a faint pounding in his head. Within a second he recognized it: It was the same sound that he had heard back when he first awakened his inner power; the sound of Chomp's heart beating as one with his own! Judging from the overwhelmed look in Rex's eyes as he looked down on Ace, it was clear that the same thing was happening to him as well. The sound suddenly died down, and Max looked up at Rex, then both of them turned towards Zoe. They both smiled at her, and then they all pushed a button on their DinoBracers, turning Chomp, Ace and Paris back into their cards. Max and Rex immediately raised Chomp's and Ace's cards into the air, and in the same moment they did an intense light enveloped both of them.

"Evolution Slash!" They both cried in unison, slashing the cards.

"Come Forth! Rolling Thunder Triceratops!" Max cried.

"Gust! Perfect Storm Carnotaurus!" Rex cried. As the light around them died down, they saw that Chomp and Ace had appeared in their full forms, but this time their scales were sparkling like crystals, just like the Nanotyrannus's, and Chomp's horns had turned silver in colour while Ace's were sparkling in golden colour. Zoe looked in amazement at the three shimmering dinosaurs in front of her and then she looked at Paris's card still clutched in her hand, but she quickly realized this wasn't the time…

"Dino Slash!" She cried, slashing the card "Spring up, Parasaurolophus!" And Paris immediately appeared in full form in front of her "Element Booster! DinoTector on, go!" She called armouring up Paris. Paris quickly joined up with Chomp, Ace and the Nanotyrannus, and now they all stood face to face with the Giganotosaurus and Brachiosaurus and Creaton and Juraton.


	24. The two and the third

Chapter 24:

"Guess this is it guys!" Max said, turning towards Rex and Zoe "If we are to stop these creeps from completing their plan to make that Reaper-meteor crash into Earth, we'll have to take them down right here, right now!" Both Rex and Zoe nodded resolutely.

"Yeah" Zoe said "Cause if we don't, that thing's going to wipe out all life on Earth...Just like it did to the dinosaurs way back then..."

"Not to mention what it would mean to everyone and everything in the past" Rex said "It's just like Reese said: If something like that were to happen here in the future it could very well be the end of all other times as well, not just this current one."

"Exactly." Max said "And that's why we have to stop them before they get to carry out their plan! It's time to fight! For the Earth! And for the future!" He cried, raising his fist into the air.

"Yeah!" Rex and Zoe cried, raising their fists into the air as well. Black Crystal remained silent, but he nodded slowly. Chomp lowered his head and began scraping the ground with his front foot, Ace let out a loud roar and Paris gave Zoe a determined look - It was almost as if they were trying to tell them they knew what they had to do, and that they were ready...

"Let's go!" They all cried in unison, once again turning towards Creaton and Juraton.

"At last..." Creaton said as an evil smirk once again spread across his face "I have been waiting for this." He said as his cold eyes fell on Max "The time has arrived for you to pay for damaging my pride back then, you little insect. And you won't enjoy it, I promise..."

"My, my, there you go again!" Juraton said with a giggle "For your sake I hope you don't end up the same pitiful way as last time..." He said sarcastically. Creaton took his eyes off of Max and turned to Juraton, growling angrily.

"Temper, temper..." Juraton said with another giggle "But all joking aside..." He said sarcastically as his dark eyes fell on Rex "I too have been waitting for another chance to play with you again!"

"Bring it on!" Max said angrily, looking right into Creaton's cold eyes "This time I'm gonna wipe that ugly grin off your face for good!"

"Yeah!" Rex said "We've beat you two before! There's no doubt we can do it again!" Juraton simply giggled again, but Creaton growled threateningly.

"Watch it..." He hissed "It's still too soon for you to start looking down on us... You've only seen a small sample of how frightening the Ancient Emperors can be..."

"I'm not afraid!" Max said. Creaton just shot him another cold stare. Then, without warning, he raised his sword and quickly pulled out a card from his cloak.

"Dark Inferno!" Creaton called, swiping the card along the blade of his sword. Pitch-black flames immediately enveloped the Giganotosaurus, and in the next second it charged towards Max and Chomp.

"All right, Chomp" Max said "Let's put these creeps in their place, once and for all!" Their eyes met for a split second and they both nodded, then Chomp rushed straight at the charging Giganotosaurus, the black flames immediately dispersing as Chomp rammed into it with his horns. The Giganotosaurus staggered from the impact, struggling to keep its footing. It looked like it was going to fall when, suddenly, it let out a loud roar, and in the next second it dove towards Chomp, grabbing onto his frill with its massive jaws!

"This doesn't look good!" Zoe said, quickly turning towards Paris "Come on, Paris! Let's..."

"No need to worry!" Max said, turning towards her with a confident look on his face "Chomp can handle this! No problem!" Zoe looked at him in surprise, once again turning her attention to the battle, and she realized why Max had been so confident: Even though the Giganotosaurus was holding onto Chomp's frill with its jaws, it was clearly struggling to get through to him, while Chomp appeared to have no problem holding it back.

"Way to go Chomp!" Max cried "Now take him down!" Chomp pushed forward and the Giganotosaurus immediately released its grip as it was pushed backwards by the sudden charge, giving Chomp the perfect opening to once again ram into it with his horns, causing it to crash to the ground, struggling to stand back up.

"Amazing, Max..." Zoe said, completely in awe "I can't believe how strong Chomp's become..."

"Yeah, I can totally see how you defeated that guy before!" Rex said "Now I know for sure we can beat these creeps!"

"Why that little…" Creaton growled furiously "Just how could that little insect have received this much power?"

"If it's too much for you, just step aside and let me take care of it!" Juraton said as he stepped past him while giggling "Go! Torrential Eruption!" He called, placing the card onto the gemstone on his shield. The Brachiosaurus suddenly began glowing in a blue light, and in the next second large cracks began spreading across the ground from where the gigantic dinosaur was standing. The cracks quickly spread across the whole area, and as they did the earth began to shake violently.

"Man, not that!" Max said over the deafening noise "That Move means nothing but big trouble!"

"Yeah, that's the same move he used back then to turn that entire plain into an ocean!" Zoe said "And if he were to do that here, it could be really bad for us!"

"Don't worry about it, guys!" Rex called towards them "Just let me and Ace deal with this one!" Ace looked at Rex for a short moment, then he once again let out a loud roar, and at the same time a strong wind seemed to blow out of nowhere, quickly enveloping him. Ace then quickly rushed towards the Brachiosaurus, the wind following his every movement as he ran, and he rammed right into one of its massive front legs. The Brachiosaurus roared out loud in pain, rearing on its hind legs. Ace immediately seized the opportunity: He quickly rushed in under the Brachiosaurus's massive body, the wind blowing all the more fiercely around him, ramming right into one of its hind legs. The impact caused by the winds were so great it knocked the leg away from under the Brachiosaurus, causing it to lose balance and fall over on the side, forcing Juraton to quickly jump out of the way to avoid being crushed under its massive weight. And as he jumped to avoid the falling Brachiosaurus, the card still on his shield fell off from the shield, and in the same moment the water immediately stopped leaking from the cracks in the ground, and most of the cracks seemed to shut by themselves.

"Awesome!" Max said as Ace rushed up besides Rex again, the wind still blowing around him ruffling Rex's hair "Way to put that little creep in his place!"

"For sure" Rex said, casting a look over at Juraton "There's no way I'll let him trap us in the ocean, like he did last time..."

Zoe didn't say anything, but simply looked at Rex and Ace, not really sure what to say.

"This won't do…" Juraton said as he picked up the card from the ground, putting the card back into his cloak "Unless I don't get a better chance I won't be able to…" Creaton suddenly grabbed the front of his cloak, pulling him up towards him with a furious look on his face.

"Not cool!" He yelled furiously "Just what were you thinking, brat? How about next time you try to warn me before pulling a stunt like that? My dinosaur could have been nailed!" He shouted, pointing towards the Gigantosaurus still struggling to stand back up. Despite being held so firmly by the cloak Juraton simply giggled at Creaton's anger.

"What's the big deal?" He said sarcastically "I was _pretty_ certain you'd make it, so don't sweat the small stuff!" Creaton growled angrily, releasing his grip of Juraton.

"Forget it." He said "I don't need your help! I'll crush all these insects myself! Now! Incinerate them!" He called, swiping the card along the blade of his sword. The Giganotosaurus roared as it rose back up from the ground, opening its jaws, and in the next moment a large, black fireball began to form in its open mouth.

"Heads up, Max!" Rex called "Looks like he's going to use Fire Scorcher this time!"

"Well, I'm not planning to let that happen! Let's go Chomp! Lightning Strike!" Max called, swiping the card. Chomp immediately began to glow, but this time the light emitting from Chomp was brightly white, rather than yellow, and so strong that Max had to put his hand in front of his face to avoid being blinded. And as Chomp fired a burst of lightning from his horns Max also noticed it wasn't the same: Not only was the blast far larger than usual, but it also seemed to be shimmering almost the same way as Chomp's scales now did. The blast reached the Giganotosaurus just as it threw its head forward to release the black fireball, and the two attacks collided in midair. The fireball immediately exploded and dispersed, and the lightning hit the Giganotosaurus right in the centre of its body, sending it flying through the air and land hard on the ground several metres away, shivering from the shock.

"Why that little…" Creaton growled, his face once again twisted with rage.

"I wouldn't be too surprised if I were you!" Juraton said sarcastically "I think it should be clear by now that kid's too much for you! But don't worry! As long as I'm here everything's under control! Hydro Shot!" He called, quickly placing the card onto the gemstone on his shield. The Brachiosaurs immediately began glowing blue again, and in the next moment it fired a flurry of water-bullets from its mouth towards the group.

"Now it's our turn, Ace! Cyclone!" Rex called, swiping the card. In the next second the winds still surrounding Ace began whirling so fiercely Rex had to brace himself to avoid being blown over. Ace quickly rushed towards the Brachiosaurus, and as the water-bullets started flying around him most of them where blown away by the strong winds, or they simply dispersed immediately as they collided with them. In the same moment Ace reached the Brachiosaurus he jumped into the air, ramming right into the centre of its body. The force of the impact was so great it almost pushed the gigantic dinosaur over, sending it skidding backwards.

As Ace rushed up besides Rex again, Zoe couldn't help but staring again: After all the times they had faced off against the Ancient Emperors she knew very well how incredibly powerful their dinosaurs were, yet Chomp and Ace seemed to have no problem keeping them in their place. For some reason it felt almost unreal to watch...

"It seems like my predictions were correct." Black Crystal suddenly said as he walked up to them, snapping Zoe out of her thoughts "As the ones chosen by the Stone Plates you have indeed received powers far beyond mine. And now that the Thundering Spirit and the Storming Heart are both together, it's almost as if this power just keeps getting stronger..." Zoe just stared at him.

"Storming Heart?" Max repeated "Wait a minute, you said before that my inner power was Thundering Spirit, right? So does that mean Storming Heart is Rex's inner power?" Black Crystal nodded, turning towards Rex, but before he could actually say something a loud roar suddenly pierced through the air, causing the group to quickly turn around. The Giganotosaurus had once again managed to stand back up after being hit by Chomp's Lightning Strike, and the Brachiosaurus had apparently recovered from its battle with Ace, and the two dinosaurs now walked up behind Creaton and Juraton, once again standing beside each other, facing towards the group.

"I hate to admit it…" Creaton said, casting a cold look on Juraton "But it looks like we don't have any other choice but to cooperate in order to win this…"

"Took you this long to figure that out, huh?" Juraton said sarcastically "Guess you were even slower than I thought!" Creaton growled angrily.

"Watch your mouth, brat." He said angrily "Or I might just change my mind..."

"I don't like the sound of this, guys!" Zoe said "Looks like they really mean business now!"

"Yeah" Max said grimly "And if that means what I think it means, we just might have some real trouble on our hands..."

"It's time to put an end to this drawn-out battle once and for all! Go! Absolute Darkness!" Creaton called, swiping the card along the blade of his sworn.

"Yeah, you better look out, cause now I'm starting for real as well! Cursed Water!" Juraton called, quickly placing the card on the gemstone on his shield. The Giganotosaurus let out a deafening roar as it once again opened its jaws, and immediately a black, shadowy orb began forming it mouth, almost as if it was actually made out of darkness. At the same time the Brachiosaurs began glowing black, and in the next second the cracks in the ground suddenly opened up again and large amounts of water spurted out of them, quickly beginning to whirl around the Brachiosaurus, the water slowly changing colour from clear blue to pitch-black...

"I was afraid of that!" Max said through gritted teeth "Last time he used that attack, he almost blew this whole city into oblivion!"

"And had it not been for Ace stopping that move back then, I just might have ended up losing you guys forever..." Rex said, casting a quick look on Max and Zoe again.

"You better stand back, Zoe!" Max said "This could get rough!" Zoe nodded, quickly stepping backwards. Paris followed her closely, obviously aware of what was coming.

"Guess this is it, Rex." Max said, turning towards him "If we want to stop this next one, we need to truly give it all we got!" Rex nodded.

"I think I know what you mean, Max…" He said, holding up the card he had somehow received back during the battle against Juraton. Max nodded, holding up the card he had found back when fighting Creaton.

"If we are to beat these creeps, these cards might just be our only chance!" Max said "Now, let's give it to them!" At the same time the Giganotosaurus roared again, the shadowy orb now almost the same size as it, and in the next second it threw its head forward, sending the orb flying towards the group. The black water had now formed into a huge whirlpool enveloping the Brachiosaurus, and in the next second it began moving towards the group. Although it wasn't nearly as fast as when it had been moving through the water back during their last battle, it was surprisingly quick, given its massive size, and it quickly approached the group. Max and Rex cast one final look on Chomp and Ace, then they both turned towards the two Emperor's dinosaurs.

"Go! Rolling Thunder Blast!" Max called, swiping the card.

"Perfect Storm Strike!" Rex called, swiping his card as well. Chomp reared on his hind legs and roared, then he quickly rushed towards the approaching black orb, and at the same time what appeared to be a sphere of lightning surrounded him. At the same time the winds surrounding Ace began whirling fiercely around him again, quickly forming into a tornado towering high up in the sky. Then he quickly rushed towards the charging Brachiosaurus, and as he ran the tornado seemed to be following his every move, almost like a shadow. The black orb sent by the Giganotosaurus smashed right into the lightning-sphere around Chomp at the same time as the tornado enveloping Ace collided with the black whirlpool now surrounding the Brachiosaurus. Just like during the last battle, the dark orb seemed to be struggling to break through the lightning surrounding Chomp, but it just didn't seem to manage it, and suddenly it began vibrating, almost as if it was on the verge of bursting, and at the same time pieces of it began tearing away, and in the next second it exploded. Max could feel the ground vibrating under their feet as it happened, and he could see the explosion tearing up large chunks of the ground around Chomp, and causing the nearby buildings to shake and fall apart, but it was almost as if the sphere of lightning around Chomp prevented the effects of the blast from reaching them. Meanwhile the Brachiosaurus seemed to be struggling with all of its might to force the tornado surrounding Ace out of its path, but the winds kept pushing the black whirlpool back every time it tried to advance. The gigantic dinosaur suddenly gave a loud roar from within the vortex, and suddenly it made a trmendous push towards Ace. The sound of the water colliding with the wind was deafening, and for a moment the two of them seemed to be frozen in place until…The wind tore up a large hole in the whirlpool, sending cascades of black water all around the battlefield, and the ground and buildings where the water struck down immediately began smoking evaporating, almost as if they had been hit by hot lava rather than water, and in the next second the water around the Brachiosaurus slowly stopped moving, and what remained of the black whirlpool slowly evaporated into nothing.

"We're almost there, Rex!" Max said "Now let's finish there creeps, once and for all!"

"You got it!" Rex replied "Time to take them down!"

The lightning surrounding Chomp immediately shot up into the air, but no sooner had it disappeared out of sight before dark clouds began to amass in the sky above. Chomp reared on his hind legs and roared, and in the next moment a cascade of lightning bolts rained down from the clouds above, striking down on the Giganotosaurus. It roared out loud, desperately trying to get away, but to no avail: When it tried to escape more lightning bolts struck down, either hitting it again or striking down in its path, blocking its escape path. At the same time the tornado surrounding Ace seemed to draw even nearer his body, forming a large sphere of wind around him. Ace took a step backwards, the he let out a loud roar, and once again he rushed towards the Brachiosaurus, and as he ran his feet suddenly seemed to leave the ground, and just like during their last battle he ran up through the air towards the Brachiosaurus. It roared out loud when Ace rammed into it, and the tremendous force of the winds surrounding Ace sent the gigantic dinosaur flying up into the air, spinning wildly from the gusting winds. At the same time the Brachiosaurus slammed into the ground, causing the earth to shake, the dark clouds slowly faded away and the lightning bolts stopped hailing over the Giganotosaurus. For a few seconds it remained immobile, but then it slowly fell crashing to the ground as well. In the next second there was two flashes of light, and both the dinosaurs turned back into cards. As the cards of the now defeated dinosaurs slowly fell down on the ground in front of them, Max felt an overwhelming feeling of triumph well up inside him.

"We did it!" He cried, raising his fist into the air once again "We did it! We won!"

"Yeah, way to go Ace!" Rex said as the two of them joined up with them again "You and Chomp were amazing!"

"Great job both of you!" Zoe said as she stepped up to them, followed by Paris "You actually beat both of them!"

"Don't drop your guard just yet." Black Crystal suddenly said, and Max was surprised over how serious he sounded "It's not over..."

"This cannot be..." Creaton said furiously as he picked up the defeated Giganotosaurus's card "Not only once but twice did that little insect defeat me. How can it be...?"

"I can't believe it either..." Juraton said, sounding anything but sarcastic as he picked up the Brachiosaurus's card "Does this mean this is the end? That the plan failed...?"

"It is not the end...The great ambition of the Ancient Emperors must never be allowed to fade away..." A dark voice said from behind them. The two of them whirled around, and saw Triaton standing in front of them. Both Creaton and Juraton immediately took a step backwards, almost as if his precense frigthened them...

"But it is true you both failed in your attempt to claim the remaining Stones..." Triaton said with his deep, dark voice "Yet time is running out...The Wrath of the Reaper must be ours to command...So it would seem I have no choice but to enter the fray myself..." Both Creaton and Juraton looked at each other with a look of pure shock and terror on their faces, then they both quickly put the cards they had been holding back into their cloaks, and then they both turned towards Max and the others once again. And as they did, Max was surprised to see that both of them had a look of evil satisfaction on their faces...

"Looks like this is goodbye for now..." Creaton said, his old evil grin back on his face "But I shall enjoy watching you squirm..."

"Yeah, I look forward to see how long you'll last!" Juraton said while giggling maniacally. Then they both made leap up onto one of the nearby buildings, then over to another, not stopping until they were a far bit away from the battlefield. Max looked after them for a moment, but the he turned towards Triaton, now standing all alone in front of them.

"So he comes out at last..." He said through gritted teeth "The last of the Ancient Emperors..."

"And judging from how confident those other two were just now, it sure seems we were right about him being the strongest of them all." Rex said.

"Yeah" Zoe said "The question is: Just how strong could he be...?"

"Hey!" Max said, turning towards Black Crystal "You're the one who knows the most about these guys. What can you tell us about him?" Black Crystal turned towards him.

"Nothing, I'm afraid..." He replied "Back when I was investigating the events from your battle with the first of the Emperors I was able to find very clear information of the two you've previously faced, but despite my best attempts this mans true abilities remained a mystery to me...But there is little doubt that the power he wields is indeed the most terrifying of the three..." Max bit his lip, then he once again turned his attention towards Triaton along with Rex and Zoe. Surprisingly Triaton didn't say or do anything: He simply eyed them all slowly with his one, grey eye, just like he had done before...

"Unlike my men..." He suddenly said with his deep, dark voice "I do not find enjoyment in actively seeking conflict...Therefore I will give you a chance to escape this battle unharmed...Give them to me...The remaining Stones..."

"No way!" Rex said angrily "With what you and your friends are planning, do you seriously think we'll just give them to you?"

"Yeah, do you really think we'll actually help you creeps carry out that evil plan of yours?" Zoe asked angrily. Triaton simply looked at them again.

"Don't be so foolish...It's for the best of the Earth..." Triaton said "This world is suffering...Allow the Reaper's Wrath to purify it...Before it is too late..."

"Forget it!" Max shouted furiously "I don't care what you try to make your wretched plan look like! You'll never get the Stones!"

"I see..." Triaton said darkly "How sad...How very sad...Then I suppouse there is no other way..." And then, almost like in slow motion, he put his hand into his cloak, pulling out a card from it. As he slowly raised his hand, Max saw that the card he held in his hand was sparkling in rainbow colour, meaning whatever dinosaur it was had to be of the Secret attribute, just like Black Crystal's Nanotyrannus, but due to the distance between them he couldn't see what species it was...

Triaton suddenly placed the card to the metal plate covering his other eye, and almost immediately there was a blinding flash of light.

"Be ready." Max heard Black Crystal say from behind him "This is where the true battle for the Earth begins..."


	25. The ruler of rulers

Chapter 25:

"It has come to this at last..." Black Crystal said as the sharp light that had flared up around Triaton slowly began to die down "This man must be defeated, or else the World as we know it will be forever lost."

"I know..." Max said as he looked steadily into the light "Cause if we don't beat this guy, then that means these creeps will have everything they need to make that Reaper-meteor smash into Earth…And we can't let that happen!" Both Rex and Zoe nodded in agreement as they stared into the light as well.

"The last of the Ancient Emperors..." Zoe said. Max turned towards her. Despite her voice being steady he couldn't help but noticing her hand was shaking slightly... "So what kind of dinosaur do you think he's got...?"

"I think we're about to find out..." Rex said, and no sooner had he said it before they heard what sounded very much like a growl coming from within the light...

Max quickly turned towards the sound, placing his hand to his Card Holder, and in the corner of his eye he saw Rex and Zoe do the same thing. Black Crystal also turned towards the sound, but unlike the rest of them he didn't show any signs of being worried or surprised. At the same time Chomp, Ace, Paris and the Nanotyrannus all stepped up beside them, none of them moving any further as they faced in the direction the sound had come from. None of them seemed to be able to even draw for breath as they stared into the slowly fading light...

The light kept growing weaker, eventually fading completely, but as he saw what was in front of them, Max immediately had to blink:

The dinosaur now standing in front of them was small, tiny even, from the looks of things not measuring more than one metre in length, and in terms of height it didn't seem to reach higher than the height of Max's knee. The dinosaur itself had a rather short, pointed head. Its eyes were bright red in colour and its neck was just a tiny bit longer than its head and was pretty thin. Its front legs were barely half the length of its hind legs, which were rather thin and slender. And its body was covered in pale purple scales giving off a rather faint rainbow-like glow, while the scales on its belly and the underside of its tail were a much darker purple. As Max kept staring at the small dinosaur it suddenly turned its eyes towards him and the others. It opened its mouth, revealing several sharp, but very small needle-like teeth and it let out a very unusual sound; almost like a shrilly, high-pitched squeak.

"So…That's his dinosaur?" Max said as he stared at it. For some reason he couldn't help but feeling a slight sense of disbelief as he looked at it: After having seen Creaton's Giganotosaurus and Juraton's Brachiosaurus that they had fought against during their previous battles, this really wasn't what he had expected from Triaton, seeing as he was supposed to be the man behind it all...

"Yeah…" Rex said as he took step forward to get a better look at the mysterious dinosaur as well "Not really what you would have expected..."

"So what kind of dinosaur is it?" Zoe said as she looked at it as well "I know I've seen it somewhere before... But I just can't seem to place it..." Neither Max nor Rex said anything.

"Eoraptor Lunensis." Black Crystal suddenly said, surprising Max very much "And I must admit…That this is a sight even I wouldn't have expected to see..."

"Eoraptor?" Max said, and suddenly a feeling of recognition struck him, and he quickly turned toward Rex and Zoe "Hey, isn't that dinosaur one of the earliest known dinosaurs ever to exist?"

"Yeah." Rex replied "Scientists believe that the Eoraptor was the first dinosaur ever to live on Earth." Zoe nodded.

"And some even say" She added "That it's also believed to be the ancestor of all other dinosaurs to come after if..." Max stared at them before quickly turning towards the dinosaur standing in front of Triaton again.

"The first dinosaur ever to live on Earth?" He said breathlessly "Man...This guy actually had something like that..."

"I believe we have had enough talking..." Triaton suddenly said with his deep, dark voice as he took a step forward, now standing right next to the Eoraptor. For some reason it didn't move. It was almost as if it was waiting for Triaton to tell it what to do "Let us not waste any more time...Time is running out...If this world is to be freed from its pain...The rebirth of this world...Needs to take place now..."

"You know, I'm really starting to get sick of hearing that now!" Max said irritably.

"Yeah" Rex said "You want to destroy Earth and all life on it, yet you keep going on about how the world is in pain and need to be saved! That doesn't make any sense!"

"It's one thing if you think Earth isn't a good place." Zoe said "But to think that gives you the right to destroy it, along with everyone and everything on it...There's no way we'll let that happen!" Triaton just quietly eyed their angry faces with his one, grey eye.

"This denial...This ignorance of the truth..." He said darkly "It is truly...Sad to behold..."

"What was that?" Max said angrily "I've really had enough of..." Before he could continue he felt something on his shoulder and whirled around, immediately realising that Black Crystal had walked up behind him, placing his hand onto his shoulder.

"Just calm down...Don't let this man get to you, or this battle may be forever lost..." He said, once again in a serious and stern tone, but despite that Max also noticed there was also something sad to it "While it is true that this man needs to be stopped at all cost, you must not allow for your rage to cloud your reason. Never forget: This man's sole wish lies in the destruction and domination of this world. All that you treasure is no more than a pile of trash to him. And the only way to conquer such desires to destroy what is dear to others is for you to show equally strong desires to protect those things and keep them out of harm..."

Max just looked at him for a short while, then he nodded resolutely.

"Yeah, I know." He said, immediately feeling calmer "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten why were here: We came here to stop these creeps from carrying out their crazy plans. No way am I letting this guy get to me!" Black Crystal nodded, removing his hand from Max's shoulder.

"Good." He said as he turned the other way, walking back up beside the Nanotyrannus "As long as you remember that, there will always be hope…"

"I have to say… " Triaton said, this time turning his eye towards Black Crystal "That your reasoning surprises me...For one that admits that he holds no knowledge of the enemy...The most logical way would be to flee the battle...Would it not...?...By remaining...Is it not likely...That you would simply end up weighing down those you see as your allies...?" Black Crystal turned towards him.

"I'm afraid that such a thing would be impossible for me at this point." He replied "The mere knowledge of what would happen to this world should this battle go badly is enough reason for me to remain here to see it to the end. Also" He said, turning towards Max, Rex and Zoe "Ever since we first me, I have been under the impression that these children alone posses the power to put an end to your schemes, and now I have no doubt that my reasoning was correct. That is all the reason I need." Triaton simply eyed him quietly.

"I see…" He said darkly "I believe that means…I will have no other choice but to destroy you along with them…It truly is...A shame…" And with those words he once again stepped up behind the Eoraptor, which seemed to realise something was about to happen and once again it opened its mouth, letting out its high-pitched squeaky growl, and in the next moment it turned its red eyes straight towards Max and the others.

"Guess there's no turning back now!" Max said as he quickly turned towards Rex and Zoe again "I say it's high time to finally put an end to these creeps!" Both Rex and Zoe nodded again.

"Yeah." Zoe said "It doesn't matter how strong this guy is! We can beat him as long as we stay together!"

"That's right." Rex said "We've come this far. There's no way we can back down now!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Max said "Let's put an end to these Ancient Emperors and their twisted plans, once and for all!"

"Yeah!" They all cried in unison. Just like before Black Crystal didn't say anything, but once again he nodded slowly. Chomp and Ace once again let out a loud roar, and Paris gave a loud cry, signalling they were all ready for the final battle with the last of the Ancient Emperors...

"Very well…" Triaton said, and suddenly he closed his one, grey eye, surprising Max very much "But like I said…I abhor fight and conflict…More than anything else…This battle will indeed be…Painful…"

"Would you stop that already?" Max said angrily "You can drop the mind-games, they won't work on us!" Triaton didn't say anything else, but simply remained unmoving where he stood, his eye still closed.

"Man..." Max said irritably "This guy's really starting to get on me…"

"Forget about that now, Max." Rex said as he stepped up behind him "Right now we should just focus on taking this guy out before he and his."

"Yeah, good idea" Max replied "The sooner we beat this guy, the sooner we can be absolutely sure their crazy idea never happens!"

"Hold on, guys" Zoe suddenly said. Both Max and Rex turned towards her "Don't you think we ought to be more careful? I mean: We don't know anything about him or what kind of abilities that Eoraptor of his has..."

"Yeah, that's a good point..." Rex said slowly.

"Come on, guys!" Max said impatiently "We didn't know anything about those two creeps from before, but we beat them easy enough!"

"Yeah...But still..." Zoe said.

"He's right." Black Crystal suddenly said "If we wait for the enemy to make the first move we might indeed learn more of his battling technique. But it also means we'll be putting ourselves at a great risk should his power be too much for us to handle..." They all looked at him, and then they all nodded.

"Yeah, you're right..." Zoe said quietly "I'm sorry...I didn't..." Black Crystal simply shook his head before turning away from her, now facing towards Triaton again.

"Concern for your friends is not a sign of weakness." He said without turning around "You of all should understand that..."

"What do you mean?" Zoe said, surprised at his words "What does that have to do with...?"

"Come on, Zoe!" Max called, snapping her out of her thoughts "It's time to get this whole thing over with!" And with those words he turned towards Chomp.

"I and Chomp will take this guy on!" He said "Should something go wrong I want you guys to cover me!" Rex and Zoe both nodded.

"We'll be right here, Max!" Rex said.

"Go for it!" Zoe said. Max nodded at them before turning towards Chomp again.

For a brief moment their eyes met, and then Chomp quickly rushed towards the Eoraptor. Without opening his eye Triaton suddenly made a leap backwards, landing several metres away from the Eoraptor as Chomp quickly approached it.

"Go get that Eoraptor, Chomp!" Max called "Take him down!"

Chomp sped up, his horns pointing straight towards the Eoraptor. But when he was just a few feet away from the place where it stood, he suddenly stopped.

"Hey, Chomp what's wrong?" Max called worriedly.

"Hold on, Max…" Zoe said as she gazed in Chomp's direction "It's…It's not there anymore!"

"Yeah, you're right, Zoe!" Rex said as he too looked towards the place where the Eoraptor had been standing as Chomp rushed back up beside Max "I can't see that Eoraptor anywhere…"

"But that's impossible!" Max exclaimed "It was there just moments ago, so how could it…" His words where suddenly drowned by a loud roar coming from behind him. He turned around in surprise, just as Paris fell crashing to the ground in front of them.

"Paris! No!" Zoe cried as she whirled around, rushing up to her "Are you all right?" Paris groaned as she rose back to her feet. She didn't seem to have gotten injured from the fall, but she was clearly badly shaken from getting so suddenly knocked over by whatever unseen force that had struck her.

"Thank goodness, you're okay…" Zoe murmured.

"What was that?" Rex said "How could she just fall over like that?"

"I don't know…She just…" Zoe started, but before she could finish there was another loud roar and they all whirled around, just as the Nanotyrannus that had been standing next to Black Crystal fell crashing to the ground.

"What the…?" Max said as the Nanotyrannus struggled to stand back up "Again? Just what was that?" The Nanotyrannus rose back to its feet, letting out a loud roar as Black Crystal walked up to it, apparently to make sure it hadn't been hurt, before turning around, now facing straight towards Triaton.

"Such speed..." He said, and Max almost immediately noticed there was something tense and serious over his voice "It's almost unreal..."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, taking a step towards him "What is it...?" But before he could finish Chomp suddenly let out a loud roar of pain, and he quickly whirled around as Chomp began to wildly shake his head, almost as if trying to shake something off of his head...

"Chomp, what's wrong?" Max said worriedly "What are...!" He interrupted himself as he realised what had caused Chomp to roar out the way he did: Clutching onto one of its horns and biting into his skin with its small, needle-like teeth was a tiny dinosaur covered in pale purple scales...

"What the..." Max said incredulously "How did it...? When did it...?" He shook his head. He realised that right now he needed to focus on getting that dinosaur off of Chomp, so that they could fight it without risking that he got hurt.

"Let's teach that dinosaur not to mess with us, Chomp!" Max said as he reached for his Card Holder, pulling out the Lightning Strike-Card again.

Almost as if the Eoraptor knew what was coming, it suddenly released its grip of Chomp's horns and quickly jumped off of his head, landing on the ground in front of him. As soon as its feet touched the ground it quickly leaped backwards, this time landing back where it had been standing in front of Triaton.

"Well…What are you waiting for…?" Triaton said, turning towards Max but still not opening his eye "Are you not going to strike…?"

Max didn't answer. The Eoraptor had once again returned to staring at the group, but somehow Max knew something wasn't right. Just a moment ago the Eoraptor had caused both Paris and the Nanotyrannus to fall helplessly to the ground, despite them being several time larger than it, and on top of that it had just made Chomp roar in pain as it bit him, although its teeth clearly hadn't had neither the size or sharpness to do any kind of damage to him, and as if that weren't enough it had happened while Chomp was in his Evolution state; not even Creaton's Giganotosaurus had been able to do him any damage at all to him while he was in that state back during their last fight…

"I thought you said...That you would put an end to us…" Triaton said, once again without opening his eye "Come now…Attack me…And I will let you know…The true meaning of hopelessness…"

Max still didn't say anything. Could he really afford to take such a risk...?

"Or is it…That you are afraid…?" Triaton said as a faint smile suddenly spread across his face "It that your problem…? Perhaps you have finally begun to realise...That no matter what you do...There is no stopping what is meant to happen..." Max could hear Triaton's words echoing through his head, and suddenly a wave of anger welled up inside him.

"Listen…" He said through gritted teeth "I'm not scared. And I'm certainly not afraid of you creeps!" The faint smile on Triaton's face grew wider.

"Good…Good…" He said, and this time there was a clear hint of amusement in his voice "That is truly good…Now take all of that rage...All of your hate towards me...Aim it at me…Hold nothing back..."

"I've had it!" Max said furiously "Let's go, Chomp! Lightning Strike!" He called, swiping the card. Chomp immediately began to glow in a bright, white light, and in the next second he fired a large, shimmering burst of lightning from his horns.

As the blast quickly approached the Eoraptor Triaton suddenly opened his eye up wide, and once again Max could see, almost as in slow motion, how he put his hand into his cloak, pulling out a card, and then immediately placing it to the metal plate covering his eye. No sooner had the card touched the plate before the Eoraptor let out a sound that didn't sound anything like the high-pitched squeak they had hear before; this time it sounded more like a deep, rumbling roar...

In the next second a bright, purple light suddenly surrounded it, and at the same time the Lightning Strike collided with it. There was a sharp flash of light followed by a deafening noise as the lightning hit the Eoraptor. As the light began to die down Max looked towards the place where the Eoraptor had been standing as shards of stone and concrete kept falling towards the ground, apparently having been torn out of it by the Lightning Strike. There was no sign of the Eoraptor.

"Yeah! Nice shot, Chomp!" Max cried, clenching his fist in triumph.

"So did it work?" Zoe asked.

"No..." Black Crystal said. They all turned towards him in surprise.

"What do you mean "no"?" Max asked in surprise "That was a clean hit, so it must have done something!"

"No…" Black Crystal said again, and Max suddenly realised his voice seemed to be shaking "That dinosaur…Isn't even hurt…"

"What?" Max asked in amazement "What do you…?"

"Hey, Max! Look!" Rex suddenly called, pointing towards the place where the Eoraptor had been standing. Max quickly whirled around, and as he saw what was there he once again had to blink: The ground where the Eoraptor had been standing was almost completely torn apart, shards of concrete and stone laid scattered all around what looked almost like a big open hole in the ground, but in the middle of the hole was something that looked almost like a purple, glowing sphere…

Max just stared at it. What was that? And what had happened to the Eoraptor? Was that strange sphere its work or…?

Before he could think anything else, the sphere suddenly seemed to crack and break apart, and in the next second it evaporated into thousands of purple particles of light, quickly fading away, and as it did they could all see what had been hiding inside it.

In front of them now stood a four-footed, rather stout dinosaur with a rather small head, its back covered with short spikes and at the end of its tail there was a large, bony club…

"What the…?" Max said incredulously as he stared at the dinosaur in front of them.

"It's..." Zoe said in shock.

"It looks like…" Rex said, clearly completely amazed "A Saichania!"

It was definitely a Saichania, just like Tank, but as they stared upon it they quickly realised there was a big difference: Rather than the purple scales that Tank had, this dinosaurs entire body seemed to be covered in jet-black scales, almost as if what was standing in front of them was simply a shadow of rather than an actual dinosaur…

Max was just about to take step towards it when, suddenly, it let out a deep, rumbling roar, and in the next second its body seemed to slowly begin to grow smaller, and as it shrunk the black scales covering its body slowly began bleaching, slowly turning into a pale purple…

Max had to blink again. The Saichania was now completely gone, and where it had been standing stood the Eoraptor. The dinosaur suddenly looked towards them, once again letting out its high-pitched, shrilly squeak…


End file.
